


Smart People Who Disagree

by liairene



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-01-03 21:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12154986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liairene/pseuds/liairene
Summary: In an alternate universe, Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Hayes get married in the summer of 2001.





	1. Chapter One

January 2007

"Let me get this straight," Sam said slowly. "You want Ainsley and me to go casually have dinner with President-Elect and his family."

"Not exactly," Josh replied. "What do you mean?"

"I want you to bring the kids too."

"So my family and his family, we're just going to have a casual dinner in the house where they're staying during the transition?"

Josh nodded. "That's the general idea. It'll just be a casual, family dinner."

"Why?" "Matt said-sorry, the President Elect said that his wife wanted to have a nice evening with another family where no one was expecting anything but a pleasant evening. She wants one evening of her life to not revolve around politics."

"She does know what her husband's new job is, doesn't she?"

"She does, but she still wants to be a real person. And Donna and I thought that was the perfect job for your family. You guys have lots in common."

"Like what? They're from Texas, Ainsley is from North Carolina, and I'm from California."

"Peter and Miranda are like six and eight or eight and six. Your kids are about that age."

Sam snorted. "Nora is four going on five, and Tommy is two."

"So they're all about the same age."

"Josh, I pity your future children."

His friend shrugged. "So you'll do it? You guys will have dinner with the Santoses?"

"I need to check with my wife, but I'm pretty sure that we can do it." "Thank you."

* * *

Two nights later, Sam and Ainsley were standing on the front steps of a house trying to pretend that this was all normal-that the Secret Service isn't behind them and that they weren't about to spend the evening with the President-Elect of the United States and his family. "It'll be fine," he said.

She looked up at him. "That's easy for you to say. You've met him before. I've never met either of them."

Before Sam could reply, the door opened and Matt Santos greeted them. "Sam, Ainsley, please come in. Welcome."

They walked in to be greeted by Helen Santos. "Sam, Ainsley, it's so nice to finally meet both of you."

"It's good to meet you too, ma'am," Sam replied.

"Please, not ma'am, it's Helen."

"Got it."

"And who are these two?"

"This is Nora," Ainsley answered gesturing to her daughter who was clinging to her mother's hand with both hands. "And Sam is holding Tommy."

"Tommy Tank Engine!" the small blond boy pronounced.

Smiling at the toddler's outburst, Helen knelt down at Nora's level. "It's nice to meet you, Nora. My name is Mrs. Santos. Do you want to take off your coat?"

Nora nodded her head of thick dark brown hair wordlessly.

"Nora, you've got to take off your coat for her to take it," Sam reminded his daughter as he helped his son out of his coat.

Tommy looked up at the President Elect. "Hi!"

Matt smiled. "Hi, Tommy, how are you?"

"Two!"

Ainsley smiled as she gently pulled her hand out of her daughter's so she could take her coat off and put it in Matt's waiting arms. Nora quietly took off her own coat and handed it to Helen before grabbing her mother's hand again.

"I'm sorry," Ainsley said to Helen as they began walking further into the house. "She can be a bit shy at times."

"Don't worry about it," the other woman replied. "Meeting strangers can be overwhelming."

"The past few weeks have been a bit overwhelming for her. We moved from California quite suddenly."

"It's been a lot of new things for her very suddenly," Sam agreed.

"I know the feeling," Helen replied. "Peter and Miranda, I want you to come here and meet Mr. Seaborn and-I'm sorry, Ainsley. Are you Mrs. Seaborn or Ms. Hayes?"

"Mrs. Seaborn is fine."

"This is Mrs. Seaborn and her children Nora and Tommy," Helen continued. "These are our children, Peter and Miranda."

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said as he shook first Peter's and then Miranda's hand. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven, and she's five," Peter answered.

"My daughter, Nora, will be five later this month."

"She was born when you worked in the White House together, wasn't she?" Matt asked as they made their way into the kitchen.

"Right after Bartlet's fourth State of the Union," Sam replied.

"The day after," Ainsley said flatly. "I don't recommend it."

Helen smiled as she gestured to Ainsley's burgeoning belly. "When is the next one due?"

Ainsley ran a hand over her belly. "Late March."

"Are you feeling excited?"

"Excited, nervous, it's all a bit surreal still at this point."

"Can I get you anything to drink? We have beer, water, soda, milk…"

"Just water," Ainsley replied.

"Same," Sam added.

"You don't have to," his wife told him. "If you want a glass of wine, I won't stand in your way. I wish I could have one myself."

"The worst part of pregnancy," Helen said sympathetically. "No coffee, no alcohol, and then there's labor."

"Don't remind her," Sam said. "Ainsley is trying to put off thinking about that until absolutely necessary."

"So you'll have a glass of wine?" Matt asked.

"Beer actually," Sam answered.

"You're a beer man? I think we'll get along well."

* * *

After dinner, the adults sat in the living room chatting while the kids played nearby. Nora had warmed up to Miranda and Peter, and Tommy could warm up to anyone in two minutes. "So how did you two end up together?" Helen asked. "I know how you met, but how did a Democrat and a Republican end up married?"

"Oh, we were cast as Romeo and Juliet in Leo's annual Shakespeare review," Ainsley said. "And we skipped the whole suicide thing and just went for the whole marriage and the baby carriage thing."

Matt snorted. "You're funny, but that's not true. What really happened if you don't mind me asking."

"Well, it all started the night of Bartlet's second State of the Union," Sam began as he played with Ainsley's fingers.

"They were painting the benches in the Rose Garden, but they didn't tell us," Ainsley continued.

"Mostly," her husband said with a smile. "I like to blame it on the bossa nova."

* * *

January 2001

The first time that Ainsley Hayes found herself in Sam Seaborn's apartment it was late and she was more than a little drunk. She'd had an interesting evening with the State of the Union and sitting on a freshly painted bench and drinking Pink Squirrels and meeting the President while in a bathrobe and tipsy. It had been interesting. Tired himself but more concerned about his friend, Sam had taken Ainsley to his apartment so that she could sleep off the Pink Squirrels. Her assistant had given her a change of clothes to wear the next morning. 


	2. Chapter Two

January 2001

She woke up alone in Sam’s bedroom wearing a Princeton sweatshirt and a pair of old shorts that were more like pants for her. His bedroom was simple but sophisticated, a fact that didn’t surprise her a bit. Everything in the room had clearly been carefully chosen to meet Sam’s standards and taste. There were a few personal touches-photos of his family, but overall, it was a simple room.  
When she went out into the living room, she was a bit surprised. There were no personal touches in there. The walls were bare. As she continued into the kitchen where Sam was making coffee, she asked “Hey, Sam?”  
“Good morning, Ainsley,” he replied with a smile. “How’d you sleep?”  
“Well, thanks,” she answered. “And you?”  
“Pretty well, that couch isn’t too shabby.”  
“I’m sorry that you had to sleep there.”  
He shook his head. “Not a problem; I didn’t mind a bit. Would you like some coffee?”  
“Sure, but will I be able to get changed before we leave for work?”  
He smiled. “Of course, Jean brought you some clothes last night before I brought you back here.”  
She was quite foggy on what exactly had happened the night before. “Sam?”  
He looked up from the coffee he was pouring. “Ainsley?”  
“Is my car still at the White House?”  
“It is. Jean brought you a change of clothes, but I decided that you were in no shape to drive so I was going to drive you home but then decided it was easier to just let you sleep in my bed for one night.”  
“That’s a lot of deciding.”  
He passed her a thermos of coffee with a flash of his eyebrows. “I try to be a decisive man.”  
She took a sip of coffee and looked around the apartment before saying, “Hey, Sam, can I ask you an odd question?”  
“Shoot.”  
“Why don’t you have anything on the walls in your living room?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“They’re just blank, no pictures or anything.”  
He looked at her. “I used to have several Gilbert and Sullivan posters hanging in there.”  
“What happened to them? Did Lionel Tribbey mock them…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at him. “They’re in my office.”  
“They’re in your office.”  
“Sam,” she sighed. “You didn’t have to.”  
“I wanted to.”  
The petite blonde shook her head. “Sam, you’d better watch yourself. If you don’t, I’m going to fall in love with you.”  
“Maybe that’s what I want.”  
“Sam,” she said in a warning tone before taking another sip of coffee. “This isn’t a joking matter for me.”  
“And you think it is for me?”  
She put the thermos on the counter. “Don’t mess with me, Seaborn.”  
He looked her in the eye. “Trust me, Hayes. I’m not.”  
“Didn’t you tell me just last night that no one likes me?”  
“I lied.”  
“You lied?”  
He took a step closer to her. “I lied. There’s at least one person in the White House who likes you, and his name is Sam Seaborn.”  
She looked into his blue eyes. “Sam, I need to get dressed.”  
“I know.”  
“Sam, I’m going to kiss you if you don’t back up.”  
He took the cup of coffee out of her hands and took another step towards her.

“This is awkward, but I should probably tell CJ about this. About us,” Sam said softly as he rebuttoned his shirt.  
Ainsley looked at him as she struggled with the zipper on the back of her dress. “Uh, why?”  
“After everything with Laurie, she told me that I was her first call if I ever thought I was into anything.”  
“And do you think that you’re into something?” Either the zipper was stubborn or her fingers were unusually clumsy.  
He came to stand behind her. As he began fiddling with her zipper, he spoke softly in her ear. “I think I’m into something serious, Ainsley. And I think that you agree with me.”  
“Something good?” she queried without turning around.  
“Something very good,” he replied before kissing her neck.

CJ Cregg’s morning began with finding Sam Seaborn and Ainsley Hayes in her office. “Oh lord, what do you two want?”  
“We need to tell you something,” Sam said. “But it needs to be quick because I have a breakfast with the President this morning.”  
“What did you two do?”  
“We slept together,” Ainsley began. “This morning, so it wasn’t really sleeping so much as…”  
“What Ainsley is trying to say that we’ve decided to attempt to pursue a relationship together,” Sam interrupted.  
“As of today?” CJ asked.  
“I know this is early days, but you told me that you should always be my first call.”  
The press secretary sighed. “Okay, just remember to be professional. And Sam, don’t do anything stupid.”  
“Why aren’t you telling Ainsley that?”  
“She doesn’t have your track record.”  
He rolled his eyes. “So we’re okay here?”  
“Just behave yourselves, and we’ll all be fine.”  
“When have we ever not behaved ourselves?” Sam asked.  
“Is that supposed to be rhetorical, Spanky?”  
“Ainsley behaves herself,” he offered.  
“Yes, but she is in a relationship with you,” CJ returned. “So my warning stands. Behave yourself, Spanky. I like this one.”

Their relationship progressed as normally as any White House relationship could. They both spent too much time at work, but they did their best to spend time together. Meals in the mess, takeout together while working, meals in restaurants as breaks from work-those were dates. Free evenings together were a rarity, but it was over one of those that they discovered a shared love of old movies.  
Then came a horrible week. Sam’s parents separated due to his father’s twenty-eight year infidelity, and the whole situation shook Sam. He slept in Toby’s office for three nights, and Ainsley barely saw him at work and not at all outside of work. He was trying to bury himself in work, a fact he hesitantly admitted when Ainsley questioned him on the matter on Thursday. “I’m a mess, Ainsley. I need to figure a few things out before I can be a good boyfriend to you again.”

On Friday night, CJ came looking for Ainsley. “Toby and Josh are taking Sam out to get drunk and then put him to bed. I’d bet ready money that there’d be no objections if you were waiting for Sam when he got home.”  
“Do Josh and Toby know?”  
CJ smiled. “Josh is clueless, but that’s not a shocker. I think that Toby suspects something at the very least.”  
“It’s hard to slide anything past him.”

“Ainsley, I’m going to entrust Sam into your care now,” Toby said when he let himself into Sam’s apartment with a drunk Sam leaning on his arm.  
She smiled as she looked up from the book she was reading. “Can you get him to his bedroom? I don’t think I’m strong enough.”  
“Sure,” he replied. “Come on, Sam. Let’s get you to bed.”  
“Okay,” Sam sighed. “Hi, Ainsley! Toby, did you know that I’m dating Ainsley Hayes?”  
When Toby returned, he shook his head. “He won’t remember tonight.”  
“That’s probably for the best. He’s had a rough week.”  
Toby nodded. “Well, he’ll probably be pretty hung-over in the morning.”  
“I’ll make sure that he has water and greasy food.”  
“Water and greasy food?”  
“My hangover cure,” she replied.  
“I prefer the hair of the dog, but to each their own.” Toby paused before continuing, “You’re good for him, you know?”  
She looked at him. “What do you mean?”  
“He needs something-no someone-stable in his life right now.”  
“Isn’t that you, Josh, and CJ?”  
Toby shrugged. “We’re his friends, but you’re something else. Just trust me, Ainsley. He needs you.”

The next morning, Sam did wake up with a fuzzy head, and Ainsley made him eggs and bacon. “You’re too good for me,” he remarked.  
“Nonsense, Sam.”  
“You made sure that I stayed well hydrated all night. You made me breakfast. You slept on my couch, which isn’t the greatest couch to sleep on. And all of that came after a week of me ignoring you. You’re too good for me.”  
She stood next to him and put a finger under his chin. “Samuel, I’m not too good for you. You’ve had a rough week, and I get that. I’m trying to help in whatever way I can.”  
“Ainsley, it’s just really nice to have something in my life that I can count on to be sane right now. And since Donna says that I can’t count on latitude and longitude, I’m really grateful that I have you.”  
She kissed his forehead and smiled. “I’m here for you, Sam.”  
He leaned against her chest without a word.  
“It’ll get better,” she whispered. “Maybe not right away, but it will get better.”

The days did get better. A few days later, he found himself working on the President’s speech for the White House Correspondents Dinner with Josh, Donna, and Ainsley-as well as a few others. It was the night that he learned that Ainsley, his girlfriend, was opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment. If you’d told him a year earlier that he’d be dating a Republican or a woman who didn’t support the ERA, he would have laughed in your face. But looking at Ainsley and his life with her, he was content. He and his girlfriend might disagree on many political issues, but they agreed on what was most important to them. He would bicker with Ainsley about the Equal Rights Amendment, but it wouldn’t destroy the fabric of their relationship.  
It was April. He’d been seeing Ainsley for three months. And he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He didn’t know exactly what that would look like. He knew that Josh would warn him away from Ainsley because of their political differences, but Sam was relatively sure that he and Ainsley could make both their personal and professional lives work.

January 2007

"Disagreeing with one another and discussing our disagreements can be really good for us," Ainsley said.

"Do you change each other's minds?" Helen asked.

"Occasionally," Sam replied. "Sometimes, it's just a safe opportunity to formulate your opinion in a relatively safe place."

"Obviously we compromise on things like any couple, but we don't have to agree on everything," Ainsley added. "We agree on the most important things in life, and after five and a half years of marriage, that seems to be working pretty well."

"The thing is that being with Ainsley helped me realize what I really valued in life," Sam said. "Politics are important to me, but healthy debate is good for me."


	3. Chapter Three

January 2007

"You two met, in what, October of 2000?" Matt Santos asked. "And if Nora is almost five, she was born in early 2002, right?"

Ainsley blushed slightly. "We went through the early stages our relationship rather quickly."

"We started dating in January of 2001, and we found out that we were expecting Nora that June," Sam explained.

"So you had a shotgun wedding?" Helen teased.

"I prefer to say that Nora hastened the inevitable for us," Sam replied.

Ainsley rested a hand on her pregnant belly. "Unlike this little girl and her brother, Nora wasn't exactly planned. But she was very welcome."

May 2001

Then came the night when the President told Sam about his MS. It was the second time in a few short months that a man he looked up to as a father revealed a secret that he’d been keeping from Sam. After his conversation with Jed, Sam had gone back to Toby’s office and talked to him for a while.   
“Ainsley’s still in her office,” Toby said at one point.  
“Pardon?”  
“Ainsley Hayes, she’s still in her office. I asked her to stay late. I told her that you were going to stay late tonight but you’d eventually need her before you went home.”  
Sam smiled. “Why’d you do that?”  
“She’s your girlfriend, Sam. I thought you’d want your girlfriend tonight. And don’t worry. She knows about this. Babish already told her.”   
“How did you know that I’m dating Ainsley?”  
“You told me so.”  
“When?”  
“Remember back in February when you were having a rough week so Josh and I took you out to get drunk?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Ainsley was there when we got back, and you were quite eager to tell me that you were dating her.”  
“I don’t remember that.”  
“I didn’t think that you would.”  
“We’ve been trying to lay low.”  
“Don’t worry,” Toby said wryly. “Josh doesn’t know.”  
“Really?”  
“Do you think that I would tell Josh that you’re dating a Republican?”  
“I mean, I figured that you two would want to sit and laugh about it together.”  
Toby laughed. “We’ll do that eventually. But not right now; you need privacy right now.”   
Sam remembered to thank Toby before going down to the Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue. 

Their daughter was conceived that night. There was no way to prove that, but Sam firmly believed that Eleanor Claire Seaborn was conceived that night. Her due date was nine months later, and while it wasn’t the only night that week he and Ainsley spent together, there was something unique about that night.   
But that didn’t all come together immediately. It was five weeks after that fateful night that Ainsley told Sam that she was pregnant. “Pregnant,” he repeated rising from her sofa. “As in, you’re going to have a baby?”  
She nodded. “Yes, Sam, I’m going to have a baby.”  
“We’re having a baby.”  
“Well, I’m the one giving birth to the baby, Samuel, but it will be your baby. So yes, we’re going to become parents.”  
“When are you due?”  
“The beginning of February.”   
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat down next to her again.  
“Okay but not great,” she replied. “I’ve been feeling a little nauseous the past few days, which is why I took the test in the first place.”  
“How are you feeling emotionally?”   
She shrugged as she fidgeted with the blanket on the back of the couch. “I don’t know, Sam. I’ve always wanted kids, and I’m glad that you’re the father, and I do want to be with you. But I didn’t see myself getting pregnant out of wedlock with a Democrat White House staffer’s baby.”  
He took her fidgeting fingers in his own hands. “You probably didn’t see yourself in a relationship with a Democrat, period.”  
She smiled. “True, but I’ve come around to the idea of having a family with you. I haven’t come around to the idea of having any baby-yours or not-out of wedlock yet.”  
He sat up straighter. “Ainsley, what if you, no; what if we didn’t have the baby out of wedlock? What if we got married before the baby came?”  
“Sam, are you ready to do that?”  
“Ainsley, I decided that I was going to marry you back in February. All that I needed was to be sure that you were ready to marry me.”  
“So you want to get married before the baby comes?”  
“Why not?”  
“Because we work in the White House, Sam, and things are a little crazy around here,” she replied as she pulled her hands away from him and stood up. “When would we get married? Where? When would we find the time to plan the wedding? I don’t want to look like a whale at my wedding.”  
Sam stood up and took her hands in his. “You will never look like a whale, dear.”  
She sighed. “Sam, you’re just being cute. My point is that planning weddings is hard and neither of us really has any time to plan a wedding.”  
“We could elope.”  
“Elope?” she repeated. “My father-my parents would object to that.”  
“Then we’ll have them there too. My parents can come if they are able. Toby and CJ would probably kill us if we left them out.”  
“And when are we going to do this?”   
“Soon, probably in the next few weeks,” he replied.  
“Okay,” she sighed. “We can elope.”  
He went to kiss her, but she put her finger on his lips. He looked at her. “What?”  
“You have to propose properly, Samuel.”  
“Do I need to ask your father’s permission to do that first?”  
Ainsley giggled. “Normally, I’d say yes, but given the circumstances, I think that we’re going to do a lot better if I call them and say that we’re getting married and having a baby. I’ll also emphasize how happy we are about it all.”  
“Ainsley,” he began.   
“Propose, Samuel.”  
“Now?”  
She shrugged. “You can wait five minutes if you like.”  
“I don’t have a ring yet.”  
“Do you need it to propose?”  
He smiled. “I don’t if you don’t.”  
She blushed and shook her head. “We can get one later.”  
Sam slowly got down on one knee and looked up at his girlfriend. “Ainsley, I love you, and I want to marry you. I know this feels like I’m just doing this because of the baby, but really, I’m not. This baby is only expediting what I already wanted to happen. Ains, will you marry me?”  
“Of course.”

“Who do we need to talk to first?” Ainsley asked as they sat in bed after having talked to each of their families.  
“CJ and Leo to start with,” Sam replied. “You should probably tell Babish.”  
“You don’t want to come with me?”  
“Did Tribbey leave his cricket bat behind?”   
She smiled. “I’m pretty sure that the Secret Service made sure that the bat was gone.”  
“I suppose that I could go with you to tell Babish if you really want.”  
“He’ll yell at both of us if you come. It’s probably better if I go alone.”  
“We don’t have to tell him right away, do we?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I get telling CJ and Leo right away, and maybe we should tell Babish about the wedding, but we don’t have to tell him about the baby yet, right?”  
Ainsley looked down at his hand on her flat stomach. “I suppose not, but he will figure it out eventually.”  
“Figure out what?”  
She put her hand on top of his. “That we eloped because of this little one.”  
“It’s crazy to think that there’s a baby in there.”  
“Give it a few months, and it’ll be more than believable.” 

Sam and Ainsley began their morning in CJ’s office. She sighed when they walked in. ”What did you two do now? And don’t worry, Ainsley; I’m already blaming Sam for whatever it is.”  
“You might not want to stick with that once you hear our news,” Ainsley replied as she sat down.  
“Oh goodie,” CJ said dryly. “What’s up?”  
“I’m pregnant, and we’re getting married.”   
“Say that again.”  
“I’m pregnant, and we’re getting married.”  
“Did one of you lose a bet? Is this some kind of a joke? Did Toby put you up to this?”  
“No, it’s real. I’m pregnant, and we’re going to elope soon.”  
“Elope?”  
“We want it to be small and simple,” Sam explained. “We don’t want to make a big fuss.”  
“Good,” CJ answered him. “Keep it that way.”  
“Pardon?”   
“Sam, I love you both. I’m thrilled that you’re getting married and having a baby. Personally, I couldn’t care less whether you two had this kid in wedlock or out of it, but politically, I’m thrilled that you’re doing it the old-fashioned way. Certain people will like that more. But I need this wedding to be as low-key as possible. I want it to be something quick and quiet that I can slip casually into a press briefing, and then I’ll slide the pregnancy into another briefing once Ainsley’s in her second trimester.”  
“You don’t want to draw attention to it.”  
She shook her head. “I want to be able to announce both your marriage and the pregnancy as if they are just commonplace happy occurrences in the lives of two delightful individuals who happen to work in the White House.”

January 2007  
“Why do I feel like Josh was probably the most upset by the whole thing?” Matt interjected.   
Sam shook his head. “He was livid at first.”  
“He came around in the end,” Ainsley added. “But he wasn’t very supportive a the beginning. Toby, Leo, the President-they were all thrilled. But Josh was just mad.” 

 

Later in the morning, Sam somehow managed to corral both Toby and Josh into his office and shut the door before the sentence that had been consuming his every waking thought for the past fourteen hours exploded out of his mouth. “Ainsley’s pregnant, and I’m the father.”  
Josh responded first. “You knocked up a Republican?”  
Then came Toby, “Well it’s not exactly a surprise considering the way you two have been going at it like rabbits ever since the State of the Union.”  
“What did you say when she told you?” Josh asked. “You didn’t say anything stupid like…”  
Sam interrupted him. “I asked her to marry me.”  
“Like that.”  
“What did she say?” Toby asked.  
“She said yes.”  
“That’s not a surprise,” Toby said dryly.   
Josh on the other hand was not quite as calm. “You knocked up a Republican and then you asked her to marry you. What the hell, Sam, what the hell?”  
Sam sighed. “I love a woman who happens to be a Republican, she is carrying my child, and we’re going to get married.”  
“You’re crazy.”  
“If you’d prefer me to be your best man instead of this lunatic, I’m your man,” Toby offered.   
Sam grinned. “I’ll keep you guys posted. But I’m expecting both of you to be at my wedding.”  
“I’ll be there,” Toby said.   
“And I’ll try to be there if I don’t have anything else that I need to do,” Josh quipped. “Donna might decide she wants me to organize my desk that day.”  
“He’ll be there,” Toby said, clapping a hand down on Josh’s shoulder. “I’ll make sure of it.”

The Hayes-Seaborn wedding ultimately consisted of the bride and groom “eloping” in their living room with a pastor Ainsley knew and Sam trusted as the officiant and Josh, Toby, CJ, and Donna as the only witnesses. Donna had been more or less an accidental addition. The day before, she’d overheard Josh and Sam bickering about the wedding, and she invited herself along. “The wedding was simple but meaningful,” CJ told the press corps on Monday. “And we’re all thrilled for Sam and Ainsley.”

The announcement of the impending Seaborn baby came in September. “The baby is due in February,” CJ explained. “The parents are thrilled, and all of us at the White House are thrilled for them. The President and Mrs. Bartlet have expressed their congratulations to the couple personally.”


	4. Chapter Four

January 2007

"How hard was it being newlyweds while working in the White House?" Matt asked.

Sam sighed. "I wouldn't recommend it."

"I sometimes wonder how we survived the first year and a half of our marriage."

"Coffee, Ainsley," Sam replied.

"No, honey, that was how we got through the first year and a half of Nora's life."

He sighed. "Nora didn't believe in sleeping through the night."

"Are you worried about returning to the White House?" Helen inquired.

"No," Sam replied flatly as he took his wife's hand. "We're in a much different place as a couple and as individuals now than we were then."

"But at the same time," Ainsley said. "I think that we still have the strength that bore us through that time."

"And we can still buy coffee."

May 2001  
The fall was busy with hearings related to the MS, the President’s reelection campaign, and getting ready for the Seaborn baby. Sam and Ainsley did their level best to find time to spend together. “So, I need a haircut,” Sam commented the evening that the House Government Oversight Committee stated their intention to get involved in the investigation of the President’s MS.   
Ainsley looked at her husband and ran her fingers through his hair. “I love you, Sam, but you really need a haircut.”  
“That’s why I have a wife.”  
“I’m supposed to cut your hair?” she queried.   
“No, you’re supposed to make sure that I cut my hair.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Samuel, I know that you’re a busy man, but have Ginger call a barber on Monday and schedule you a haircut. You’re a big boy. You don’t need me to help you with that.”  
He wrapped an arm around her and whispered, “I don’t need you to, but I want you to.”  
She ran a hand through his hair again. “Oh, Sam, shut up.”  
His free hand was pressed against the small swell of her belly. Sam was about to kiss his wife when he felt something move against his hand. He jerked back and looked at her. “What was that?”  
“She kicked,” Ainsley replied. “Phyllis kicked you.”  
“We’re not naming our daughter Phyllis.”  
“Are you sure? I know how much you love Phyllis Schafly.”  
“Oh, Ainsley, shut up.”  
“Why?”  
He ignored the question. “So she kicked me? The baby just kicked me?”  
His wife nodded. “Our daughter just kicked you.”  
“Well, she’s going to have to learn some sort of respect for her father.”  
“Oh, Samuel, she’s been kicking me for a while now.”  
“I know, but Ainsley, she kicked me. I felt her!”  
Ainsley smiled and put her hand on top of his. “It’s starting to feel more real now, isn’t it?”  
“We’re going to have a baby. Ainsley, come February, there’s going to be a little baby girl, and she’s going to be ours. We’re going to be responsible for another human life.”  
She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair. “I know.”   
“February is only four months away.”  
She smiled. “I know. Sam, are you getting nervous?’  
“Ainsley, I’m going to be a father. Me, have you met me? I accidentally slept with a call girl once.”  
“That’s almost endearing.”  
“And now I’m going to be a father.”  
“Well, at least I’m going to be the baby’s mother. She’s not completely out of luck.”  
“Ains, I just don’t want to screw her life up.”  
“Sam, there are no guarantees in parenting. I’m just as terrified as you are.”

“She needs a name, Sam,” Ainsley said from the doorway to her husband’s office.   
“What happened to Phyllis?” he replied without looking up from his computer.  
“We’re not naming our daughter Phyllis.”  
“Why not? I thought you wanted to name your daughter after your hero.”  
She came to stand in front of his desk. “Samuel, be serious. First of all, I don’t like the name Phyllis. Second, I’d never name YOUR daughter after Phyllis Schafly regardless of how I feel about her. And thirdly, I’m seven months pregnant here. The baby will be here in about eight weeks. I’d like to start having serious conversations about what to name OUR daughter.”  
“Can we do this when we get home?”  
“Okay, let’s go home.”  
“What time is it?”  
“Time to go home and feed your pregnant wife,” she replied.   
Josh appeared in the doorway. “He feeds his pregnant wife? How?”  
“He cooks,” she replied blandly.   
“You’re telling me Sam Seaborn cooks?”  
“Not well, but he can cook without burning anything,” she replied.   
“Sam, you learned to cook?” Josh asked.   
“According to my wife, it’s the duty of every husband of a pregnant woman. If she has to carry my kid around for nine months, I have to make sure that they’re well fed. So, I learned to cook.”  
“Dude, you’re whipped,” Josh replied.   
“Dude, he’s married, and his wife is standing right next to you.”  
“Good point; it’s probably a bad idea to piss off the pregnant lady. She might crush me by sitting on me or something.”  
“Josh, go away,” Sam spoke flatly.  
“I need to talk to you.”  
“You insulted my wife. Unless it’s a national emergency, it can wait until tomorrow.”  
“In the meantime, he needs to get Shamu home and fed,” Ainsley added.   
“Ainsley, you are far from being Shamu,” Sam inserted.   
“She’s pregnant,” Toby called as he walked by the office. “It happens.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“It means that your wife is pregnant and as the baby grows, she’s changing the shape of your wife’s body. It’s a temporary thing. It’s just part of life.”  
“Toby, you’re such a poet,” Ainsley replied blandly. “And on that note, I’m hungry, so we’re leaving.”

“Honey, you know that I think you’re beautiful, right?” Sam asked his wife as he stirred the contents of the crockpot on the counter.  
“Yeah, okay, Sam,” she replied from the kitchen table where she was sitting with her feet up.   
“No, I’m serious. You’re gorgeous, Ainsley.”  
“Sam, I’m seven months pregnant, I eat like a pig, you saw me at Thanksgiving last week, people keep asking me if I’m having twins, and I feel like a whale. Josh is right. I could crush him by sitting on him.”  
“Ainsley,” he said softly as he put down his spoon. “Toby’s right, and you know it.”  
She sighed. “Sam, I know that intellectually, but I’m having a hard time really believing that right now.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Sam, you know better than anyone else that pregnancy is playing havoc with my hormones. Work has me stressed. I love my job, but between stress and pregnancy, I’m hitting my limit. And I feel like a whale. I’ve always been in good shape. I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain an ounce. And now I’m pregnant, and I feel like a small whale.”  
“Ainsley, I know that this is hard for you. I just wish that you could see yourself how I see you.”  
She smiled as she stood up. “Sam, you are the sweetest man in the world, but I think that you’re going to have to accept that pregnancy hormones are beyond even your skills.”  
“Babe, if you look my track record, I think you’ll find that I’ve never been terribly smooth with women.”  
“I’ve heard. I’ve heard that you’ve managed to offend a fair number of ladies in your career.”  
“Are you ready to eat or do you want to keep picking on me?”  
“Sam, I’m always ready to eat.”  
He smiled as he put stew in a bowl for her. 

“Penelope.”   
Sam looked up from his desk to see Toby standing in the doorway. “I beg your pardon?”  
“Penelope, the name,” the Chief of Communications said as he came into the room. “You and Ainsley are trying to decide what to name the baby, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Name her Penelope.”  
“Why?”  
“So you can call her Penny.”  
Sam snorted. “You’re hilarious.”  
“I think it’s a great idea. Penelope is a reference to a strong woman from literature. That’s perfect for you and Ainsley.”  
“And you get the penny connection.”  
“Which is perfect for me,” Toby added.   
“Except knowing my wife, our daughter will end up being called Nell or Nellie.”  
“That’s too bad. I like the sound of Penny Seaborn.”  
“I prefer Penelope Seaborn or Nellie Seaborn.”  
“Also, Penelope has elope in it, which is fun because you two did elope.”  
Sam rolled his eyes. “We’re not naming our daughter Penelope.”  
“It’s a nice name.”  
“It is a nice name, but I’m not naming my daughter after the penny or the fact that my wife and I eloped.”

January 2007

"What was the best parenting advice anyone in the White House gave you?" Helen asked.

"Leo told me once that I always had to make sure that I had my priorities in line," Ainsley said.

"Jed Bartlet told me that it was inevitable that I'd mess my kids up for life," Sam replied with a smile.

December 2001

“Sam, stay after for a minute, would you?” President Bartlet asked at the end of Senior Staff one morning shortly before Christmas.   
“Yes, sir.”  
Once the room had cleared, the president looked at the younger man. “How’s that wife of yours doing?”  
“She’s good, sir.”  
“Tired, I expect.”  
“Yes, but she’s healthy and so is the baby.”  
“It’s a girl?”  
Sam nodded. “It is, and I’m really hoping she looks like her mother.”  
“My wife would remind you that your dark hair is likely to dominate over Ainsley’s blonde hair.”  
“I suppose so.”  
“Are you excited?”  
“Nervous and excited,” Sam replied. “We’ve got about six more weeks left, and I’m terrified that I might screw my daughter up for life.”  
“Oh, you will,” Jed said. “Ask any of my daughters. They’d all be happy to tell you that your parents inevitably mess you up for life.”  
“That’s helpful.”  
Jed smiled and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine, Sam. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, and Ainsley is one solid woman.”  
“She’s quite remarkable,” Sam said with a smile that often graced his face when he spoke of his wife.   
“Have you two started talking about names?”  
“Arguing mostly,” he replied. “But we have settled on a middle name.”  
“What is it?”  
“Claire,” Sam said. “It’s Ainsley’s middle name and her mom’s name.”  
“I like it. What’s the battleground in first names?”  
“Abigail has been tossed around. So have Elizabeth and Alexandra.”  
“You don’t want it to sound like you’re naming your daughter after a member of my family.”  
Sam smiled. “That’s part of it.”  
“I like Alexandra.”  
“I’ll tell Ainsley that Alexandra has the presidential seal of approval.”  
Jed laughed. “I’m sure that’ll mean a great deal to your Republican wife.”

January 2007

"So if I put the Presidential stamp of approval on any baby names, you'll reject them?" Matt asked.

"Possibly," Ainsley said. "Eleanor is a family name after all."

"Do you have any ideas for this little one's name?" Helen asked.

"We have a name, but we're playing it close to the vest," Sam said.

"Is it Leo?" the President-Elect asked.

Sam laughed. "No, Tommy is named after Leo and President Bartlet."

"Also," Ainsley said. "Leo isn't a great name for a girl."


	5. Chapter Five

January 2007  
“Who supported you the most when you two got married and had Nora?” Helen asked.   
“In the White House or in general?”  
“Either,” her husband replied.   
“Toby Ziegler,” Sam said.  
“Toby?” Matt repeated.   
“Oddly enough yes,” Ainsley said. “I think that marriage and family scare Josh at a certain level, but Toby believes in those things. And he was oddly wonderful when we worked in the White House, and he’s still a wonderful supportive friend to us and uncle to our children.”

January 2001  
“Toby, can I sit in your office for a couple minutes?” Ainsley asked one evening shortly before the State of the Union address.   
“Uh, sure, why? Your husband’s office is right next door.”  
“You have a couch,” she replied as she settled herself on said couch. “My husband only has office chairs.”  
“I know.”  
“And I’m a very pregnant woman who just walked up from the basement. I need to get comfortable for a few minutes.”  
“Aren’t you going to have trouble standing up again?”   
“Maybe, but you can haul my husband in here when that happens. I need to sit down now.”  
“Fine,” he replied. “Just be quiet.”  
She pointedly didn’t reply.

“Hey, Sam?” Josh walked into his friend’s office that same evening.   
“What’s up?”  
“Do you remember when we were writing the President’s speech for the White House Correspondent’s dinner?”  
“Yeah, and we had to work late to put jokes into the speech.”  
“Ainsley was helping us,” Josh said.   
“I remember. Is this going someplace?”  
“At some point that night, you and Ainsley went down to the mess to get coffee, and you took a really long time to come back. You said that you kept spilling the coffee, which is completely believable except for the fact that Ainsley was with you.”  
“What does that mean?”  
“If you’d be getting coffee alone, I’d believe the spilling thing, but you had Ainsley with you.”  
“You think that I can’t spill coffee when Ains is around?”  
Josh sighed. “Were you two having sex in the mess?”  
“Are you seriously asking me that?”  
“Well, were you? Have you and Ainsley had sex in the mess?”  
“Do you really need to know?”  
“Yes.”  
Sam sighed. “Mind your own damn business.”  
“You get turned on by arguing with her about the ERA?”  
“That is none of your business.”  
“Was that the first time you’d had sex in the White House?”  
Sam leaned back in his chair. “Why do you feel the need to ask me these questions? Can’t you go bother someone else?”  
“I chose you.”  
“Josh, I’m trying to write a mildly important speech right now. Can’t you go bug someone else?”  
“I’ll go see Ainsley.”  
Sam glared at his best friend. “You leave her alone. She didn’t do anything to deserve you right now. The poor woman is pregnant and tired, and we make her hike down to the basement every morning despite the fact that she’s almost nine months pregnant. I’m convinced that one day I’m going to get a call telling me that she went into labor on her way down the stairs and I have to bring her back upstairs.”  
“That’d be entertaining.”  
“No, that’d be awful. In fact, if it ever happens, you’re going to have to help me deal with it.”

Toby looked up at Ainsley. “Josh is an idiot.”  
“I know,” she replied.  
“You could probably kill him if you wanted. Sam wouldn’t stop you. Neither would I.”  
The blonde smiled as she gently rubbed her belly in an effort to soothe the squirming baby within. “Killing him would be too kind. He needs to suffer.”  
“He’s actually suffered at least a bit in his life.”  
“And yet he hasn’t learned not to be a fool yet.”  
“I can’t explain Josh to you. I’m not sure that anyone can.”  
“I bet Donna could,” Ainsley offered.   
“Yes, but I doubt that anyone would be able to understand what Donna was saying.”  
“You don’t give her enough credit.”  
Toby shrugged. “You’re probably right.”  
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Ainsley took a deep breath. “Okay, can you please get my husband in here?”  
Toby wordlessly threw his rubber ball at the wall between his office and Sam’s. Sam appeared in the doorway a minute later to Toby’s pronouncement of “Your wife made me do it.”  
“What’s up, darling?”   
Ainsley reached her hands up towards her husband. “Help me up please.”  
“How are you feeling?” he asked he helped her to her feet.   
She leaned against his chest once she was on her feet. “She’s been kicking me in the ribs all day.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I can’t get through a sentence without losing my breath, and Babish told me point-blank today that he hopes I have this baby soon because he misses my old way of speaking.”  
Sam wrapped his arms around his wife. “We’re almost there. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but we are. But for right now, let’s just get you home and fed.”  
“Don’t you have work you need to do?”  
“I’m ordering him to take the rest of the evening off,” Toby remarked. “Go home, kids. The speech will still be there in the morning.”

“You wrote most of that State of the Union, didn’t you?” Matt asked.   
Sam nodded. “I was effectively the worst husband that a pregnant woman could have had. For most of January, I just wasn’t around. I was always at work.”  
“At least it was in the service of a good cause,” Ainsley replied. “And at least Nora waited until after the speech was done before making her grand debut.”

“I’m giving the story to someone else,” Lisa Sherbourne said.   
Before Sam could reply, CJ appeared in the door of Sam’s office. “Spanky, I need you. In my office. Now.”  
“Why?”  
“Your wife is there.”  
“What?”  
“Her water broke.”  
“Her water broke?”  
“I believe that’s what I just said.”  
“And she’s in your office?”  
CJ nodded. “Donna is with her.”  
“I’m on my way.” Sam started walking towards CJ’s office.  
“Get your coat,” CJ called after him, but he didn’t stop. She sighed. “Never mind, I’ll get your coat.”

Sam and Ainsley went to the hospital, and that was the last that anyone heard of them for several hours. For most of the following day, their friends kept asking each other if anyone had heard from them yet. Finally, around seven-thirty, CJ got a call. “You said that you’re always my first call, right?”  
“Yeah, how is everything?”  
Sam sounded breathless. “Good, it’s been a long day, but she’s finally here.”  
“Give me details, Sam.”  
“Eleanor Claire Seaborn was born at 6:35. She is twenty inches long and weighs eight pounds, fourteen ounces.”  
“Can I release that to the press?”  
“After you tell our friends, sure,” he replied. “We spelled Eleanor the normal way, if anyone asks.”  
“What’s the normal way?”  
“Like Eleanor Roosevelt,” he replied.  
She laughed. “How are Ainsley and Eleanor?”  
“Ainsley is amazing but completely exhausted. Nora is beautiful.”  
“Nora?”  
“We named her Eleanor, but I’ve been calling her Nora.”  
CJ smiled. “Hair? Eyes?”  
“She has a full head of dark brown hair, but the nurses say there’s no guarantees that will stay. She has blue eyes.”  
“And those will probably stay.”  
“Unless I’m not her father,” he joked.   
“How are you feeling, Spanky?”  
“Honestly? I’ve never been this happy.”  
“I’m glad. Tell Ainsley that I said congratulations, and I can’t wait to meet Eleanor.”  
“We’ll arrange something soon. And I’ll call again sometime tomorrow.”  
“Good, and Sam, congratulations again. I’m really happy for you.”

A few minutes later, CJ stuck her head into Josh’s office. “Eleanor Claire Seaborn was born about an hour ago.”  
“Wait, what?”  
“I just got off the phone with Sam.”  
“And the baby’s here?”  
“She is,” CJ replied. “Her name is Eleanor Claire.”  
“Eleanor?” Donna repeated. “Last I heard, they were talking about Alexandra.”  
“They talked about a lot of names,” Josh said. “Just yesterday, I had to talk them out of Mabel.”  
“Mabel?” CJ said.   
“It’s from Pinafore or Penzance; I can’t remember, but you can bet those two know.”  
“Gilbert and Sullivan,” Donna added.   
“I know,” CJ replied. “It’s their thing.”  
“It’s because they’re nerds.”  
“It takes one to know one,” CJ retorted. “And now, I need to go tell Leo and Toby.”  
“The president will want to know too,” Josh said.   
“I’ll start with Leo.”

She actually started with Toby. “Toby,” she said flatly from the door to his office.   
He looked up at her. “Did Sam call?”  
She nodded.   
“How is everything?”   
CJ smiled. “Sam said that everyone is great. She was born about an hour ago, and they named her Eleanor Claire.”  
Toby returned her smile. “I’m glad. Did Sam say if we could call or visit?”  
“He didn’t say anything.”  
“We should probably wait until they’re home.”   
She nodded. “That makes sense.” She paused for a moment. “Hey, Toby, do you know why Eleanor? I can’t see Ainsley naming her daughter after a Democrat, and Sam didn’t want people to think they were naming the baby after one of the President’s daughters.”  
“It’s Sam’s grandmother’s name, his mom’s mom.”  
“I didn’t know that.”  
Toby shrugged. “Ainsley told me.”  
CJ smiled. “You like her, don’t you?”  
“It’s hard not to like her,” he replied. “There’s something endearing about her, and she’s good for Sam.”  
“She is. I think that they’re good for each other.”  
“They are,” Toby replied. “But the past year has been really hard on Sam, and she’s been his rock through it all. He’s an idealist, CJ, and he’s had his faith in humanity shaken several times this year.”  
“I know.”  
“And I think that it could have destroyed him if not for Ainsley.”  
CJ looked at him. “What do you mean?”   
“He needs to believe in something, and I don’t mean in a higher power. He does believe in a higher power, but that’s not the issue here. He needs to believe that people really are good. The two men in his life that he most respected failed him last year. That does a number on a guy like Sam. But he had Ainsley to help him through the storm, and I really think that helped him to keep his faith in humanity.”  
“She gives him longitude and latitude.”   
“Sure.”   
“I never thought about it like that before.”   
Toby shrugged again. “I worry about Sam sometimes.”  
“He looks up to you like you’re the big brother he never had.”  
“He’s kind of like another brother to me. But he isn’t an astronaut. And I talk to him more than I talk to David.”  
“You’re a good man, Toby.”  
“Go away.”

Leo’s office was CJ’s next stop. “Sam called,” she told him upon entering.  
“And?” Leo didn’t look up from his work.   
“Eleanor Claire was born around six-thirty.”  
He smiled. “How is everyone?”  
“Sam said that they’re all good. He told me that he’d call again in the morning.”  
“Good,” Leo replied. “Make sure you get a phone number when he calls in the morning. The President will want to call him.”  
“I’ll make sure of it.”

Leo ordered Sam to spend a week at home with Ainsley and baby Nora. “You won’t be here if you’re here. You’ll spend all of your time calling Ainsley. Just stay home for a week.”  
And even when he did return, all he wanted to do is either call Ainsley to check on Nora or talk to someone else about Nora. Toby told him to shut up. Josh told him to stop being a woman. CJ told him to give her a picture. Donna asked him why they didn’t name the baby Donnatella.


	6. Chapter Six

January 2007  
“What is maternity leave from the White House like?” Matt asked. “I’m partially wondering for practical purposes.”  
Ainsley smiled as she rubbed her cumbersome belly. “I had twelve weeks off from work, but I spent most of that time working from home rather than not working.”  
“Oliver Babish refused to believe that she needed time off,” Sam added. “Never mind that no day care would have taken Nora before she was twelve weeks old, and we didn’t want to hire a nanny when we’d already arranged for a day care starting in late March.”  
“To his credit, Sam refused to bring anything home for me,” Ainsley said. “So Oliver would have messengers bring documents to me at home. Or he’d spring things on me when I came to visit Sam.”  
“I did that too though,” Sam said regretfully.  
“Yes, but you at least took care of the baby while I worked.” 

February 2001

Eleanor Seaborn made her first visit to the White House when she was three weeks old. Ainsley brought the baby and lunch in to the office. Then she read over the language in a document that her husband was concerned about. At first, Nora was fine with being passed around from arm to arm-CJ, Donna, Ginger, and even Margaret, but when she was passed to Josh, she started screaming. And nothing that Josh did could placate her. “She hates me,” he sighed.   
“She doesn’t hate you,” Toby said as he took the baby from Josh. “She just doesn’t trust you.”  
“And she’s going to trust you?”  
Toby adjusted the baby and rocked her gently. She stopped fussing and stared up at his bearded face. “She seems to like me.”   
“That’s odd,” Josh quipped.   
“I think it’s sweet,” Donna disagreed, stroking Nora’s plump cheek. “And I think she’s beautiful.”  
“She looks like her mother,” Sam commented.   
“Except for her hair,” Ainsley added. “She has Sam’s hair. She was born with a full head of thick dark brown hair.”  
Sam smiled as he watched Donna stroke his daughter’s hat covered head. “She’s perfect. She’s absolutely perfect.”  
“Are you guys getting much sleep?” Toby asked.   
Sam laughed. “You know that they say you should sleep when the baby sleeps.”  
“So you’re not sleeping?”  
“Not much,” Ainsley replied. “But because I’m home with the baby during the day, I get more sleep than he does.”  
As if on cue, Sam yawned. “I’m okay.”  
“Right, of course you are,” Josh teased.   
Just then Charlie came in. “The President is free now, and he’d really like to see the baby.”  
“Of course,” Sam said. “Toby, could I have my daughter back please?”  
Toby handed Sam the baby, and Ainsley grinned watching her husband hold their daughter. Donna breathed, “He’s a natural.”  
Ainsley nodded. “He knows what he’s doing with a baby. He’s a good dad.”

“You’re lucky, Sam,” Jed Bartlet said as he held Nora in his arms.   
“I’m well aware,” Sam replied as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist.   
“But do you know how lucky you are? This little lady didn’t get anything from you except your hair. She’ll be quite pretty someday.”  
Ainsley leaned against her husband’s shoulder. “Not quite sure how to respond to that, are you?”  
He sighed. “I’m glad that she looks like you. I’m just not sure what to do with the insinuation that I’m unattractive.”  
“Hey, you’re married, aren’t you?” Jed said. “That’s got to say something for your face.”  
“It’s a nice face,” Ainsley said as she looked up at the face in question. “I’ve always liked your jawline.”  
“Personally, I’m quite fond of Miss Eleanor’s nose,” the President remarked. “And Sam, I must say I’m impressed that you were brave enough to give her a name that I gave to one of my daughters.”  
“It was my grandmother’s name,” he replied. “And we’re calling her Nora, not Ellie.”  
“Was that your grandmother’s idea?” the President asked.   
“No, sir, it was my wife’s,” Sam said looking down at Ainsley. “She likes the name Eleanor, but she wanted our daughter to have a more wash and wear name for childhood.”  
“I think it suits her,” the child’s mother commented.   
“I’ll think she’ll do an excellent job living up to all of its history,” Jed replied. “You two did well. I’m pleased for you.”

“Ainsley, I really don’t want to do this, but Babish is out of town,” Sam said.  
“But you need someone to look things over before Vienna and Babish is out of town,” his wife replied. “I get it. I’ll bundle Nora up and come on in. But Sam, she’s hanging out in your office while I work.”  
“That’s fair. I do owe you for this after all.”  
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Ainsley, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Sam said as his wife walked into the bullpen. “I'm nominating you for Wife of the Year.”  
She smiled and handed him the carseat as they started towards his office. “I don’t think that’s a real award.”  
“Fine, you’re getting a presidential commendation.”  
She rolled her eyes. “You have the pack ‘n’ play in your office?”  
“I set it up already.”  
“I adore you.”  
“You’re just saying that because I’m taking the baby off your hands for a couple of hours.”  
She kissed his cheek. “In my life, that could win you the Nobel Prize.”  
“Ainsley, I wouldn’t even vote for myself if I was in a Father of the Year competition.”  
“You’re too hard on yourself, Sam.”

Nora’s fondness for Toby didn’t dissipate. When the little girl was almost four months old, a night came when both Ainsley and Sam were working late. Sam had picked Nora up from day care and brought her back to his office. For the most part, she seemed content to sleep in a pack ‘n’ play while her father worked. Then, she woke up, so Sam fed her and bounced her on his lap while he worked. Later, she went to Donna while Sam went to talk with Leo.   
When Sam returned half an hour later, the baby wasn’t with Donna anymore. The secretary smiled. “Look in Toby’s office. And do it quietly.”  
Sam positioned himself where he could see Toby, but his boss couldn’t see him. What he saw made him smile. The balding curmudgeon was sitting at his desk, holding baby Nora in his left arm while typing with his right.   
“Is she sleeping?” Sam whispered to Donna who had come to stand next to him.  
She nodded. “She was fussing after you left, so I was walking around with her but she didn’t stop. Then Toby showed up, and then he took her. He rocked her. He sang to her.”  
“He sang to her? Toby Ziegler sang to my daughter? Are you sure?”  
She laughed. “Yeah, you may not believe it, but he did.”  
“Wow, that’s unexpected.”

Sam made his way to Toby’s doorway. “You know, I never figured you for the baby type.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“I never thought you liked babies.”  
“I like some babies. If you remember, Andi and I were trying to have a baby prior to our divorce. And you know that I like my nieces and nephews. Your baby is quite bearable as babies go. She’s cute and sweet and adorable. Are you sure that she’s really yours? The cuteness comes from Ainsley, but she’s quiet, and I don’t know where that comes from.”  
“She’s plenty loud when she wants food.”  
“Well, that probably comes from her mother.”  
“There aren’t many things in this world that my wife loves more than food.”   
Toby smiled. “Sam, I really mean what I’m about to say, so listen carefully. I know that getting married and having a baby last winter wasn’t exactly your plan. I know that those were things you wanted in the long term, but they came earlier than you planned. Regardless, this has been good for you. Marriage and fatherhood agree with you. You’re happier than I’ve ever seen you. But more than that, you’re calmer and more focused. Your writing is better than it was before. It’s good. It’s very good. I’m proud of you, Sam. And don’t make me say that twice.”  
Sam grinned back. “Thanks, Toby. That means a lot to me.”  
“Glad to hear that, but I’m giving your baby back to you the minute she starts shrieking.”


	7. Chapter 7

Josh burst into Sam’s office interrupting a conversation he was having with Ginger about some information that he needed. “Do you know what the President just said to me?”  
“What? When?”  
“Just now,” Josh replied. “He held me back after senior staff. And do you know what he said? It was unbelievable.”  
“Okay, then I clearly don’t know what he said because I was here and not there.”  
“I’m going to give you two some privacy,” Ginger said before slipping out.  
Josh proceeded as if Ginger was nonexistent. “He told me that your marriage is less problematic for him than my relationship with Amy. Apparently, your Republican wife is less of a problem for the administration than my Democrat girlfriend.”  
“Okay,” Sam replied. “Did he explain that?”  
“Amy’s stirring things up because of something that I told her,” Josh spat. “He said that more would be getting done if my girlfriend was in my position. He also implied that my relationship was causing him problems. And I pointed out that you’re married to a Republican, and he said that’s less problematic.”  
“Probably because my wife and I leave work at work,” Sam replied. “Also, we work together. Ainsley works for the White House even if she is a registered member of the Republican Party. And Ainsley and Amy have very different jobs. Ainsley is our lawyer; Amy is a lobbyist who works for not us. They do very different things.”  
“I don’t know. I think that the President is mad at me.”  
“Gee, I can’t imagine where you got that idea from,” Sam sighed bitterly.  
“Sam, I’m not in the mood for crap. What’s wrong with my relationship with Amy?”  
“From the President’s perspective?”  
“Well, you clearly don’t have any problems with me dating Amy.”  
“No, I don’t.”  
“Okay, so why does the President think that your relationship is better than mine?”  
“My relationship isn’t better than yours. It’s just different.”  
“How?”  
“What’s the most important thing in your life?”  
“My job,” Josh replied.   
“What’s the most important thing in Amy’s life?”  
“Her job.”  
“Do you know what the most important thing in my life is?”  
Josh glanced around the room and shrugged vaguely. “Your pen? Your computer? Your copy of the dictionary?”   
“Ainsley and Nora,” Sam replied.   
“That’s not fair; they’re people, not things.”  
Sam smiled. “Okay, but my family-my wife and daughter, they’re the most important people and things in my life. Is that true of you and Amy?”  
“No, but that’s okay. We’re not married.”  
“But it is the point,” Toby said as he walked into the room. “Well, it’s Sam’s point, and it’s probably the President’s point. You and Amy are having fun together, and maybe you get something out of it intellectually. But neither of you is the other’s highest priority.”  
“Not right now at least,” Josh said.   
“Your relationship lacks staying power,” Toby replied. “You like Amy, and she likes you. It suits your needs now. But your relationship won’t last in the long haul because neither of you is really prepared to make sacrifices for the other.”  
“How do you-“ Josh began.  
“I was married. I’m divorced now. There’s a reason,” Toby said flatly. 

“Sam, can I ask you for a favor?” CJ sat down next to Sam. They were on Air Force One after a crazy trip to New York City.   
He looked up at her. “Sure, what’s up?”  
“Can I stay at your place tonight?”  
“We don’t have a guest room, but if you don’t mind the couch,” he answered.   
“I just don’t want to be alone tonight.”  
He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “I’ll call Ainsley and tell her to get the couch ready.”  
She leaned against his shoulder awkwardly. “Thanks, Sam. I really appreciate it.”  
“It’s no problem. But are you sure that you wouldn’t rather stay with Toby or Josh? They both have guest rooms, and neither of them has an infant who doesn’t sleep through the night.”  
“Sam, Josh is basically living at Amy’s right now for one thing. And for another, you have a wife who can and will empathize with me in a way that neither Josh nor Toby can. And as far as the baby goes, I’m not sure how much sleep I’m going to get anyway, so she probably won’t bother me that much.”  
“I just want you to go in with your eyes open. I don’t want you to envision the Seaborn home as a refuge of peace and tranquility.”  
She smiled faintly. “Spanky, don’t ever change.”

When Sam and CJ arrived at his apartment, they found Ainsley in the living room. “Shh,” she whispered. “The baby is actually sleeping right now.”  
“Got it,” Sam replied matching his wife’s whisper. “I’m going to change out of this tux if you don’t mind.”  
“Go,” CJ said. “I want to talk to your wife if you don’t mind.”  
“Go for it,” Sam said. “Just don’t wake the baby up.”  
After her husband left the room, Ainsley turned back to CJ. “Have a seat. Is there anything that I can get you?”  
“No, not right now, thanks. I just want to sit and not be alone right now.” CJ sat awkwardly on the couch next to Ainsley. “I don’t know what I want or how I feel, Ainsley.”

“I just haven’t…I don’t know, Ainsley. He wasn’t afraid of me. He wasn’t intimidated by me or what I do. You get that, right?” CJ was sprawled on the couch with her feet on the coffee table.   
Ainsley didn’t say anything but just squeezed the other woman’s hand.   
“You’re lucky, you know? You’ve got that with Sam. He loves you. He’s not afraid of you.”  
“We challenge each other,” Ainsley replied gently. “It’s good for us.”’  
CJ nodded. “Simon could have been that kind of a person for me. Ainsley, I was just getting used to him.”  
“I know.”  
“I was such a jerk to him, and then I realized that I liked him, and now he’s dead.” CJ looked at Ainsley. “What are you supposed to do when you’ve had your heart completely broken?”  
“Get drunk,” the blonde replied. “You’re supposed to sit in your bathtub and get drunk.”  
“Am I taking a bath while I do this?”  
“I suppose. It’s been a while since I did it, and I’m hoping to never do it again.”  
CJ leaned against Ainsley’s shoulder. “Can I just sit here and not talk to you for a while?”  
“Be my guest.”  
Eventually, CJ fell asleep, and Ainsley covered her friend with a blanket before going to her own bedroom. 

January 2007  
“Can you have a work-life balance in the White House?” Helen asked.   
Ainsley laughed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. But in reality, it’s a really hard balance to strike.”  
“I don’t know if I ever found it,” Sam said.   
“I think our marriage only worked because we worked in the same place,” his wife added. “And even then, we had to be really committed to each other and our family.”  
“And we understood one another. We knew one another well, and we knew what the other one wanted.”

“Sam,” Leo hollered. “I told you to go home.”  
“I am going home. I just wanted to look at-“  
“If you’re not gone in five minutes, I’m calling your wife.”  
Sam sighed. “She probably forgot who I am. I haven’t been home in three days, and I’ve barely seen her in passing around here.”  
“Then go home and see her. I’ve given both of you the day off.”  
“I need to-“  
Leo raised his hand. “You need to go snuggle that baby and kiss your wife. Leave or I’ll have security escort you out. And I’ll call your wife.”   
Sam spun around. “Fine, I’m leaving. Call me if you need me.”

“You’re home,” Ainsley said as her husband walked into their apartment.  
“Finally,” he sighed. “I’m pretty sure that I forgot what you look like.”  
“I’d be happy to remind you.”  
He smiled before kissing her. “Can I sleep first?”   
She laughed. “When was the last time that you slept?”  
“Last week possibly?”   
She handed him the baby. “You two can go take a nap together. Nora, take good care of Daddy, and tell him how much you love him.”  
Sam kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “Nora, you’re the second best thing that ever happened to me. Your mama is the only thing that beats you for me.”  
The baby gurgled and looked up at her dad. He adjusted her in his arms, and she settled against his chest.   
“You’re getting so big, Nora. And I’m missing so much of it.”

Sam didn’t get to spend the day in bed with his girls like he’d planned. A few hours after he got home, he got called back into work to staff the President. When he finally got home, Nora was sleeping, and Ainsley was in bed reading a book. He took off his tie, kicked off his shoes, and flopped onto the bed next to his wife. “Hey, Ainsley?”  
“Yeah?” she asked   
“What would you think if I left the White House?”  
She dropped the book. “Pardon?”  
“Ainsley, I think that it’s time to talk about me leaving the White House.”  
“Why?”   
He sighed as he began to unbutton his shirt. “I’m missing too much of Nora’s life. I’m at work more than I’m at home. It’s not good for our marriage or for Nora. And we’re not having another kid if I’m still working these kinds of hours, but I don’t want Nora to be an only child.”  
Ainsley rolled onto her side and looked at her husband. “Sam, if you want to leave, then do it. I’m not going to say that I don’t wish that Nora and I got to spend more time with you. I don’t think that part is a bad idea.”  
“Ains, we had only known each other for eight months when we got married. We need to work on getting to know one another and having a strong marriage right now.”  
“What would you do if you left the White House?”  
“Probably go back into private practice or find a job with a PAC that I really believed in,” he answered.  
She nodded. “We could do that.”  
“You’re not opposed?”  
“I could try just being a wife and mother.”   
“You’re hilarious.”  
She smiled. “Sam, I love being a wife, and I love being a mother. But I also love being a lawyer, and I think that Mrs. Ritchie and people like her are full of crap.”  
“So since you won’t be staying home to slave over the stove, what will you be doing, Mrs. Seaborn?”  
Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn giggled. “I could think of some causes that I’d like to get involved with.”  
“Republican causes that would make me argue with you?” he teased.   
She laughed. “Actually, I have been thinking about looking into a group involved in breastfeeding advocacy or improving maternity leave.”  
“Really?”  
“Becoming a mother changed me, Sam. You know that.”  
“Are you going to vote Democrat now?”  
She snorted. “I didn’t say that it made me a new person.”  
“If I were running for office, would you vote for me?”  
“If you were running unopposed or against really terrible person,” she replied with a smile. It was a smile that Sam knew well. He wasn’t going to get much more serious conversation out of Ainsley. They had an agreement that they wouldn’t bring politics into their home more than necessary and that they definitely wouldn’t seriously discuss politics in their bed.   
“I saw Mallory tonight.”  
“I know. She brought you home. And before you ask, I’m grateful to her.”  
Sam smiled. “Ainsley Claire, I love you.”  
She looked at him. “I love you too, but what does that have to do with Mallory?”  
He reached out and ran a finger over her cheek. “It’s funny-life. Life’s funny. On paper, Mallory is perfect for me. She’s the woman I should have married. But in real life, she’s not the right woman. She’s a good woman, but she and I don’t click in the right way. But you, Ainsley Claire, you’re not perfect for me on paper.”  
“We’re a nightmare on paper, Sam.”  
“Exactly,” he replied. “But in real life, you’re it. You’re the one for me. And it’s hard work. Being married is hard. But being married to you is worth any amount of work. And it’s just funny how on paper one thing looks right when in real life, but real life doesn’t look like paper.”  
She smiled. “In some ways, we got lucky, Sam. We were both willing to try something outside of our comfort zone, and then we got ourselves into a situation that forced us closer together quickly.”  
He kissed her forehead. “I’m glad that we got lucky. Nora’s timing may not have been ideal, but I’m glad that she happened.”


	8. Chapter Eight

September 2002  
“We’re putting our resources where they’ll be most useful,” Leo said. 

“You know,” Sam replied. “I’m from Orange County. Ainsley and I have talked about moving there and raising our family there. It’d be nice to know that we’ll be living in a place that’s of value to the Democratic Party.” 

“Sam, you grew up in Orange County. You know what it’s like.”

“Yes, I do know what it’s like. But it’s a place where I might want to raise my children, and I know what I want it to be like.”

“I don’t think that we can make it what you want it to be just now.”

Sam sighed. “Then maybe that’s where I need to focus my energy.”

“Pardon?”

“Leo, I’m a father now. I want to focus my energy on making the world a better place for Nora and her future siblings.”

Leo smiled. “You’re an idealist, Sam.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“The world needs idealists.”

“How did you get to be so good at doing Ritchie?” CJ asked Sam. 

“It comes from being married to a Republican,” Josh answered. “Ainsley teaches him as part of foreplay.”

“Please,” Toby sighed. “Sam is just good at capturing other people’s voices. This isn’t exactly new.”

“But it’s a little scary when he does this,” CJ persisted. “It almost makes me think that he’ll vote for Ritchie.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Sam wouldn’t dream of voting for Ritchie.”

“No, that’s what I do in Ainsley’s dreams.”

Sam stood in the kitchen with Nora on his hip. “I did for the widow. It’s not a big deal.”

Ainsley glared at her husband and slowly set the knife down on the counter.. “Sure, you did it for the widow. You just didn’t think about all of the potential widows involved?”

He leaned forwards. “It won’t kill you to…”

“My death wouldn’t make me a widow, Samuel,” she replied. “But I’ll be a widow if I kill you over this.”

“You’re not going to kill me.”

“I might if you win.”

“I’m not going to win. I won’t even have to RUN, Ains. Democrats never win in Orange County. I just did it as a courtesy for the widow.”

She sighed and picked the knife back up again. “Sam, I understand that you’re thinking about leaving the White House. But running for Congress is not going to give you a more stable life or a more stable environment for our family.”

Election Night 2002

“You really don’t know?” Sam asked. 

“It’s cake!” Donna replied. 

“How do you not know what kind of cake it is? Ainsley would know.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not your wife.”

“I know,” Sam replied flatly. “My wife voted for Ritchie on purpose.”

She punched his shoulder.

“That didn’t hurt.”

Donna glared at him. “It works on Josh.”

 

“I’m stronger than Josh.” 

She kept glaring. “It’s cake. Do you want it or not?”

He sighed. “I need to go home and talk to my wife.”

January 2003

“Are you going to be okay?” Ainsley asked her husband. They were alone in their bedroom in the house they’d bought in Orange County. 

“Do you still love me?”

She kissed his lips. 

“Is Nora still my daughter?”

“As far as I know, but you might want to check with Josh.”

“Josh?”

She shrugged. “What can I say? I have a thing for dark-haired lawyers.”

“So you went for Josh and not Toby?”

“I don’t like beards. You should know that by now.”

Sam kissed his wife. “I know plenty of things about you, and one of those things is that Josh Lyman is not your type and you’re not his.”

“How do you know that I’m not his type? Josh likes smart women.”

“You’re not Donna.”

“He’s never dated Donna.”

Sam smiled. “Everyone who isn’t Donna is a distraction. He has dated and he will date plenty of good women. There’s nothing wrong with any of those women except for the fact that they’re not Donna.”

“I thought that the president didn’t like it when he was dating Amy.”

“The president was mad at Josh, and Amy was a chink in Josh’s armor.”

Ainsley looked her husband in the eye. “You’re going to miss him, aren’t you?”

Sam leaned back into his pillow and ran a hand over his face. “I’m going to miss all of them, but there are things that I won’t miss. And frankly, I’d rather be Daddy than Senior Aide to the President. There are too many things here that are too valuable to miss.”

January 2007

Helen Santos looked at Sam. “You left the White House because you didn’t want to miss out on important moments as a parent.”

“And as a husband,” he agreed. 

“How do you know that you won’t miss out on those things in this White House?”

“Ainsley and I are more solid now than we were four or five years ago. We got married quickly, and a big part of why I left the White House was to stabilize the foundation of our family.”

“Things have never looked rocky between you two.”

“From the outside maybe,” Ainsley replied. “But there was a lot we had to figure out in the first two or three years.”

“We’d also built our White House careers as single people, and it was very difficult to dial them down to suit our sudden responsibilities as parents.”

“I think we could have done okay being married and working in the White House, but we hadn’t built our lives around any expectation of Nora and fitting her into that world was really hard.”

Ainsley nodded. “But this time we’re going in knowing that we have to serve our country well and be good parents to Nora, Tommy, and the peanut. It might not always be easy, but we’re starting the job knowing that our kids are our first priority and not trying to squeeze them in after we’ve already gotten started.


	9. Chapter 9

June 2003

“He said that? Josh told Joe that if you’re a Republican you’d better look like Ainsley Hayes?” 

“He did,” Donna confirmed. “Sam, I think that Josh has a thing for your wife.”

Sam looked up at his wife and smiled. “I can understand why. She’s an attractive woman.”

Ainsley settled herself on the bed next to her husband. “What did Josh do now?”

“He told Joe Quincy that if you’re a Republican you’d better look like Ainsley Hayes.”

“Oh, he’s so sweet,” Ainsley giggled. “Donna, tell your boss that he’s a twit. The Republican Party is open-minded enough to allow both ugly and attractive members to join.”

“He probably wouldn’t bother listening to you,” Donna replied. “You know how Josh is.” 

“Stubborn,” Sam said. “He’s very stubborn.”

“He’s a good person,” Ainsley inserted. “And there’s nothing wrong with being stubborn. Some of the best people are.”

Sam looked at his wife. “Are you talking about me?”

She looked up at the ceiling. “It’s possible, but I couldn’t say for sure. I can think of plenty of people whom I’ve known over the years who have been stubborn.”

“And you yourself are no wilting daisy.”

She shrugged. “I’ve never found delicacy to work to my purposes.”  
_____________

January 2007  
“How much did you stay in touch with Josh while you were in California?” Matt asked. 

Sam paused for a moment before answering. “We did our best, but it wasn’t always easy.”

“How so?” Helen asked. 

“When you work in the White House, it’s hard to have relationships outside of the Washington bubble,” Ainsley answered. “It’s an all-consuming job.”

“Honestly, the three hour time difference helped us because he was able to call me when he was working late. He’d call me around midnight for him, and since the kids were bed by then, I was available to talk.”

“But it wasn’t perfect,” Ainsley said. “There were times when he’d call us with absolutely no concept of what time it was or even what day it was.”

“That’s almost normal for Washington,” Matt commented. 

________________  
May 2004  
“Josh, calm down.”

“I can’t, Ainsley. This is important. Sam isn’t answering his phone.”

“He went for a run, Josh. He’ll be back soon.”

Josh sighed. “Listen, Ainsley. The First Daughter has been kidnapped, we don’t have a Vice President, and Toby’s busy because Andi just had the twins.”

“And you need Sam.”

“I need something sane in my life.”

“And your first thought was my husband.”

“No, it wasn’t. Don’t worry. I haven’t completely lost my mind yet.”

Ainsley laughed before replying, “That’s a relief.”

“You wanna hear something fun?”

“There’s something fun going on over there?”

“Danny slept on CJ’s couch.”

Ainsley snorted. “She’ll end up married to him one day.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Just a hunch.”

Josh sighed. “Can you have Sam call me when he’s free?”

“I’m not his secretary, Josh.”

“I know, but you’re his wife.”

“Josh, that metaphor only works with you and Donna.”

“Donna is not my wife.”

“Yet.”

Josh sighed. “What are you? Yenta?”

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. All I know is that I’m not my husband’s secretary because Sam’s secretary is a sixty-three old widow named Doris.”

“She sounds lovely.”

“She’s great, but she’s no Donna.”

“I’m sure that she’s also no Ainsley.”

Ainsley chuckled. “There’s only one Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn in the world, Josh.”

“And that’s probably a good thing.”

“What are you trying to say about me, Josh Lyman?”

There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “Ainsley, can you call Donna when you get a chance? I’m worried about her, and I think that she needs a friend.”

“You’ve got it.”

“Thanks, Ainsley.”

“I’ll have Sam call you as soon as we get back from church.”

“Thanks.”  
_______________

“CJ, did you know that Sam goes to church?”

CJ looked up at Josh who stood in the doorway to her office. “What?”

“I called him, and he wasn’t home because he was out running. And Ainsley said she’d have him call me as soon as they got back from church.”

“Josh, it’s Sunday. Many people in this country go to church on Sundays including the president.”

“But Sam?”

She shrugged. “I know he grew up going to church. And I suspect that it’s something that’s important to Ainsley.”

“So he goes to church to make his wife happy?”

“Josh, they’re married, and they have a child together. Knowing Sam, I could see him going to church on Sundays if it’s something that he sees as important to having a stable marriage and family.”

Josh leaned against the doorframe and sighed. “I guess I just never saw Sam as one of those people.”

“Toby goes to temple sometimes, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

“And Huck will have a bris, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So Sam goes to church, and they had Nora baptized. That doesn’t mean that he’s hanging out with Mary Marsh.”

Josh snorted. “Ainsley doesn’t even like Mary Marsh.”

“Do you remember what Mary Marsh called Ainsley?”

“Am I overreacting?”

She shrugged. “You’re tired and stressed. It’s to be expected.”  
____________

“Josh, I get it. I completely get it.”

“Do you? I feel like I only partially get it.”

Sam sighed. “Let me put it to you this way. He is living every parent’s worse nightmare. I haven’t let Nora out of my or Ainsley’s sight since it happened. My daughter is seventeen months old and has been sleeping in her own room for a year, but we moved her back into our room last night.”

“Sam,” Josh said softly. “No one is going to hurt Nora.”

“I bet you would have told the Bartlets the same thing two days ago.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Sam. I don’t know what to tell anyone.”

“Josh,” Sam spoke carefully. “You don’t have to have all the answers.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Be a comfort to your friends,” Sam replied firmly. “Sometimes that’s the most important thing you can do or be. You can’t solve everyone’s problems.”

“So I just have to be there?”

“Hey, in times like this, being there is at least ninety percent of the battle.”

Josh sighed. “You know me, Sam. I’m good at doing things. I’m a man of action.”

“Sometimes you have to sit still, Josh. It’s part of life.”

“Well, I don’t like that part.”

Sam chuckled. “I know.”

“Sam, you want to hear something funny?”

“What?”

“It’s hard to dislike Walken. I thought I’d hate him, but I don’t.”

“So you’re learning what Ainsley taught me about Republicans.”

“Some of them are human beings, and none of them actually eat their young?” 

“Well, my wife has never tried to eat our daughter.”

Josh laughed. “Ainsley has never been a normal Republican.”

“Hey, I heard that you’re going around telling people that if they want to be Republicans they have to look like my wife.”

Josh didn’t reply to that.

Sam continued. “I’m just going to suggest that you probably don’t want a whole country of people who look like my wife. There wouldn’t be much diversity.”

“It wouldn’t be a whole country of people. It would only be the Republicans. The Democrats could look like whatever they wanted. I’m just saying that if I have to disagree with people I’d like to enjoy the view while I do it.”

“Josh, you can’t even agree with all of the Democrats you know.”

“I’m not as bad as Toby.”

Sam laughed. “That’s true. How is Toby?”

“He’s Toby.”

“It’s a good thing that he’s the speechwriter and not you.”

“What is this? Let’s make fun of Josh night?”

“I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Well, I should probably get back to work.”

“And I should probably go help with lunch.” 

“I’ll call you again soon.”

“If I don’t hear from you by the end of the month, I’ll call you.”  
________

“Hey,” Ainsley said softly as she walked into the study. “I heard they found Zoey.”

“She’s safe.” Her husband was seated at his desk with a file open in front of him, but he didn’t seem to really be paying attention to it. 

“Have you heard from Toby or Josh yet?”

Sam shook his head. “CJ called a bit ago. She just said that Zoey was safe and she had to get to work. It sounds like things are really crazy there right now.”

“I can imagine.”

He stood up and walked around the desk. “I can’t imagine what the President and Dr. Bartlet are feeling right now. I’m just really glad that Zoey is finally safe.”

Ainsley looked up at her husband. “Do you miss Washington?”

“Some days I do, but not today.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we left, I knew that I either needed to get further into the Room where it all happens or walk away entirely. After losing the election, I needed time to refocus both for me and for our family.”

“And I’m glad we did that. I think that we’ve both been better able to focus on being a family.”

“I have more time for you and Nora than I did in DC.”

“Sam, would you ever go back?”

He sighed. “I make good money here. So do you. We work good hours. But I miss the feeling that I’m doing something to make the world a better place.”

Ainsley smiled. “You’re raising Nora.”

“And that’s vital. In fact, that’s part of why I don’t mind not being in Washington. Raising Nora and her future siblings to be good and productive citizens is so important.”

“But you also want to be involved in public service again.”

He nodded. “And you do too. I know you, Ainsley. Don’t try to tell me that you don’t miss it.”

She laughed. “Oh Sam, you know me. I love working in private practice, but I miss knowing that when I was in court, I was defending patriots.”  
_______________

One morning in September, Sam woke up to the sound of his wife running to the bathroom. He slowly climbed out of bed and followed her there. “Ains, this is the third morning a row,” he said as he knelt down next to her and began pulling her hair back.

It was a few moments before she replied. “I don’t think it’s the flu.”

“I don’t think it is either.”

She leaned against his bare chest. “It’s probably not anything I ate.”

“Given that Nora and I are fine, you’re probably right.”

“Are we ready for number two?”

Sam kissed the top of his wife’s head. “President Bartlet once told me that you’re never ready for number two or three or any of them. But we haven’t screwed Nora up too badly yet.”

“She’s only twenty months old, Sam. We’ve got plenty of time.”

He laughed. “I’m just saying that I think we can handle a second baby.”

“Us and day care,” she replied. 

“Do you want to stay home with the kids?”

“Not forever,” she answered. “But I do wish we lived in a country with better maternity leave.”  
___________________

Ainsley looked at her husband. “Why are you awake this early?”

“I need to call Donna.”

“Pardon?” 

Sam leaned against the doorframe. “I need to talk to Donna before Josh gets into the office.”

Ainsley pulled her head out of the toilet. “Should I be worried about this?”

Her husband knelt down next to her and put a hand on her back. “There are only two women in my life.”

“Who’s the other one?”

“You and Nora are the only ones for me.”

She shook her head. “Go call Donna. Tell Josh to get his head out of his ass.”

Sam kissed his wife’s forehead. “I love you.”  
________________


	10. Chapter 10

_January 2007_

_“I have an odd question,” Helen began._

_“What’s that?”_

_“What’s the deal with Josh and Donna?”_

_Sam laughed. “Oh goodness, I could write a book for you about that.”_

_“Would you be surprised if I told you that there’s a betting pool about when they’ll get together?”_

_Matt looked at Ainsley. “Why hasn’t anyone ever told me about this?”_

_She shrugged. “I guess you didn’t talk to the right people.”_

_“Did Leo know about it?”_

_Sam snorted. “Mallory took over her father’s bid in the pool when he died.”_

_“Are you serious?”_

_“At the funeral, she came up to me and told me that she was taking over her dad’s stake.”_

_Matt shook his head. “How long have you two known about them?”_

_“Six years,” Ainsley said._

_“Since ten minutes after I met her,” Sam replied._

* * *

November 2004

“Why did you get married?” Josh asked Sam.

“You know.”

“Ainsley was pregnant, and you two were in love.”

“We still love each other.”

“How did you know that you loved her?”

Sam took a deep breath. “I got up one morning and realized that I’d rather have Ainsley in my life than not. You know how people say that being with their significant other makes them a better person?”

“Yeah,” Josh sighed. “You’re not going to tell me that, are you?”

“No,” Sam replied in a firm voice. “Ainsley doesn’t make me a better person. Nora makes me a better person, but her mother doesn’t. What Ainsley does is more important. Ainsley makes me more myself.”

“Toby said that when you’re with Ainsley you’re a better writer.”

“He told me that once. He also told me that she made me calmer and more focused. He said that she’s the most stable thing in my life.”

“She’s good for you, but don’t tell her that I said that.”

Sam laughed. “I won’t.”

“I wouldn’t want it to go to her head,” Josh explained.

That only elicited another laugh. “What’s this about? Who are you thinking about?”

“No one in particular right now, but I’ve been thinking about the end of our time in here. I’m thinking about what I want after that.”

“Marriage and children?”

“My birthday was a couple weeks ago.”

“I know. We sent you a card.”

Josh laughed. “I got it. Donna loved the card from Nora.”

Sam and Ainsley had let Nora scribble all over a piece of paper with crayons before Ainsley wrote “Happy Birthday, Uncle Josh! Love, Nora” on it.

“We figured that you’d appreciate it and Donna would love it.”

“I think you might have to send her a birthday card from Nora when her birthday comes around.”

Sam laughed. “I think we can arrange that.”

“She’ll love it.”          

“Just make sure that I don’t forget.”

“Talk to your wife about that. That’s the sort of thing that I’d normally have Donna do and it’d be weird to have Donna remind you to send herself a birthday card.” 

* * *

“So the government’s shut down, and the President is watching basketball?”

Josh sighed. “It’s ridiculous.”

“I bet. It’s not playing well in the press.”

“I don’t know what to do. We can plan and work all we want, but if he won’t come downstairs…”

“You need to talk to his wife.”’

“Sam, she’s in New Hampshire.”

Sam sighed. “I know. But you need her. Abbey makes Jed sane.”

“How do you know this?”

“I’m a married man, Josh. Ainsley makes me sane.”

Josh snorted. “Yeah, well, she makes me crazy.”

“That’s why you didn’t marry her. Find someone who makes you sane on your craziest day, and marry her. That’s what I did.”

“How is Ainsley?”

“Pregnant, Josh, she’s pregnant.”

“She’s pregnant? Again?”

Sam laughed. “We never wanted Nora to be an only child. We started trying around the Fourth of July.”

“You two are so patriotic.”

“And she’s due near Memorial Day.”

Josh laughed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. I’m excited. She’s had awful morning sickness, but it’s starting to clear up now that she’s in the second trimester.”

“How does Nora feel?”

“She’s two years old. She doesn’t know what a little brother or sister is.”

“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”

“It’s too early to know, but we will find out.”

“What do you want? You want a son, don’t you?”

Sam laughed. “When I say that I just want a healthy baby, I really mean it.”

“Come on, Sam. You want a son.”

“A son would be great, but another daughter would be too.”

“Is this one of those things that I’ll understand when I have kids?”

Sam laughed. “It might be. I know that some people really want one or the other. But I didn’t care either way with Nora, and now I don’t care with this one.”

“You don’t want one of each?”

“If we don’t have a boy this time, maybe the next one will be a boy.”

Josh gasped. “You’re going to have three kids? Three?”

“Josh, the Barlets have three.”

“But three kids, Sam! Sam, do you know what kids are like? They’re sticky.”

“You should see Nora, Josh. She’s great.”

Josh sighed. “How old is she now?”

“She’ll be three in January.” Sam’s pride was evident in his voice.

“She’s going to be three? She was barely one when you guys left.”

“Oh man, she’s grown so much, Josh. She’s walking and talking.”

“She’s a real person now?”

Sam laughed. “She is a real person. And she’s a pretty amazing person. You’ve really got to see her.”

“Absolutely, you guys should come to Washington.”

“Take a break, Josh. Come out here for a couple days, and you can see Nora.”

“I’ll have Donna look at my schedule?”

Sam sighed. “Come for two days. It’ll be good for you.”

* * *

Sam and Ainsley took Nora to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. “I know how much you love spending time with my family,” Ainsley said.

“Hey, your mom likes me.”

She smiled. “My mom likes you because she thinks you’re handsome and you made her a grandma.”

“Hey, I’ll take that. It’s better than your father and brothers who barely tolerate me.”

“They’ll come around.”

“Ainsley, we’ve been married for three years. I’m starting to think that they won’t come around.”

She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned her head against his back. “Sam, three years isn’t really that long in the grand scheme of things. They will come around.”

“When? On our golden anniversary?”

 

* * *

“Samuel, you have to help me.”

“I don’t have to do anything.”

“I’m writing Lassiter’s eulogy. You’re married to a Republican. You’re my only hope.”

Sam shook his head. “I am not your Republican eulogy guru.”

“Charlie is drinking my scotch.”

“He’s singing, Sam.”

Sam laughed. “Charlie, you have my sympathies.”

“Walken’s dog is here,” Toby said. “Just remember. Suicide is painless.”

Charlie moaned. “Get me out of here.”

“Charlie, why does Toby have my cell phone number?”

“You two are friends?”

Sam slammed his head into his hand. “I need new friends.”

“I know the feeling,” Charlie replied.

“I’m going to have Doris block Toby’s calls.”

“You have to help me.”

“Toby, you don’t need my help. You’ll figure it out. Call me when you’ve got it and tell me all about it.”

“I hate you.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m looking forward to hearing your speech tomorrow.” 

* * *

 

“Ainsley, I want to do more with my life,” Donna sighed.

“How long have you been working with Josh? Your anniversary is in April if I remember.”

Donna laughed. “Let’s not go down that road again. I’ve been with him for what? Six years? Is this my life?”

“You want to go down a different road?”

“I want my life to have meaning.”

“I understand that.”

“Ainsley, if I died tomorrow, my obituary would say that in addition to being Josh Lyman’s assistant I was a loving daughter and sister. If you died tomorrow, your obituary would talk about how not only were you a lawyer who worked in the White House and a prominent PAC but you were also a devoted wife and mother. I want my life to be more than just a footnote on Josh’s biography.”

“I get that. I completely understand.”


	11. Chapter 11

_January 2007_

_“I have yet another question,” Matt asked._

_“What about?” Sam replied._

_“Tommy.”_

_“He’s our son. He’ll be two at the end of May.”_

_The President-Elect smiled. “I was wondering about the origin of his name. I thought that one of you mentioned that he’s named after Leo.”_

_“Leo’s middle name is, no was Thomas,” Ainsley began. “Tommy is named Thomas Josiah.”_

* * *

 Memorial Day weekend came. Ainsley was forty-one weeks pregnant and exhausted. “I am a whale,” she announced on Friday night as her husband walked into their bedroom. She was sprawled awkwardly on the bed with her belly resting on a pillow, Sam’s pillow to be precise.

“Are you sure that you don’t want your body pillow?” he asked pointing to the long pink pillow on the floor.

“Could you pick it up?” she asked. “It fell earlier, and bending over isn’t really my thing these days.”

He smiled and picked up the pillow. After he handed it to his wife, he settled himself on the bed. “Nora is sound asleep.”

“How many stories did you read to her?”

“Oh gosh, five?”

“How many of them were the complete story?”

Sam laughed as he settled his pillow behind his back. “You know our daughter. How many would you guess?”

Ainsley took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Maybe one?”

He rested his hand on her belly. “You’re right. She actually let me get through all of _Good Night, Moon_ tonight.”

Ainsley pulled her nightgown up and rubbed her exposed belly. “She loves that book. And she loves her daddy.”

Sam ran his hand back and forth over his wife’s belly. “How is our son treating his mommy?”

She took another deep breath and let it out very slowly. “I think that he might finally be thinking about putting in an appearance.”

“Contractions?”

“Every so often, they’re not regular enough to go in yet, but I’m keeping an eye on them.”

He moved his hand to rest on hers. “Just let me know how I can help. And let me know when you’re ready to go to the hospital.”

She smiled at him. “You may not get much sleep tonight.”

“I don’t think we would have anyway,” he replied pointing at the television playing CNN coverage of the Gaza bombing.

* * *

Shortly after midnight, Ainsley smacked her dozing husband. “Call your mother, and call Dr. Chen. It’s time.”

Sam nodded and slowly reached for his phone. After calling the doctor and his mother, he turned off CNN and took his wife to the hospital.

* * *

Around four that Saturday morning, a large squalling baby made his entry into the world. “He has blonde hair,” was the first thing that his mother said when she held him in her arms.

“Well, we know where he got that from,” Sam replied as he gazed at his wife and newborn son.

“Do you still want to go with our original name choice?”

He nodded. “We have to name him after Leo. We never would have gotten married if not for Leo.”

Ainsley smiled. “Thomas Seaborn, welcome to the world.”

“Thomas Josiah Seaborn,” her husband corrected.

“My parents are never going to forgive us for naming our son after two Democrats.”

Sam laughed. “They’ll get over when they see how cute he is.”

“He is perfect, isn’t he?”

“Nine pounds, fourteen ounces,” her husband said. “He’s a big guy.”

“He was nine days late.”

 

* * *

Sam’s mom brought Nora to the hospital around nine in the morning. Sam met his daughter in the waiting room. “Do you know why you’re here, Nora?”

“To see Mama and the baby.”

“Do you know what a baby is?”

The dark-haired toddler shrugged and held up her baby doll. “Like a doll?”

Sam picked her up. “A little bit; Nora, Mommy had a baby boy this morning. You have a baby brother.”

“A baby brother?”

“I’ll take you to meet him,” he told her as he started walking towards the hospital room. 

* * *

“Mommy!” Nora yelled as soon as she saw Ainsley.

“Nora, my darling, how are you? Did Grandma take good care of you?”

“We had pancakes.”

Ainsley kissed her daughter’s forehead and smiled. “Nora, I have someone I want you to meet. This is your baby brother, Thomas.”

Nora looked down at the bundle of baby in her mother’s arms. “Tommy, hi! Hi, Tommy!”

Sam kissed his daughter’s cheek. “Do you want to sit on the bed with Mommy?”

“Mommy and Tommy,” the little girl said happily. “I sit with Mommy and Tommy.”

Her father settled on the bed next to her mother. Ainsley wrapped an arm around her daughter. “Do you want to hold the baby?”

Nora put a hand on the baby’s exposed hand before reverently whispering “Tommy.”

Ainsley looked up at her smiling husband. “Sam, I’ve never felt so much love in my life.”

He wiped a tear from his eye before joining his family on the bed. “I’ve never been so happy.”

* * *

“It’s a boy, Toby,” Sam said. “He was born around four this morning.”

“We knew he was going to be a boy. What did you name him? Tobias Zachary Seaborn?”

Sam laughed. “Good try, we named him Thomas Josiah Seaborn. Nora has already shortened that to Tommy.”

“He’s not even a day old yet, and he already has nickname?”

“The perks of having an older sister, I suppose.”

“What does he look like?”

“He’s twenty inches longer and nine pounds, fourteen ounces.”

“Sounds like a big baby,” Toby replied.

Sam chuckled. “He’s a chunk alright. He has blond hair, and so far his eyes are blue.”

“That will probably stick.”

“True. Any word from Josh? How’s Donna?’

Toby sighed. “It’s not good. She’s stable, but it’s still very wait and see.”

“Poor Donna, she doesn’t deserve this. I wish there was something more we could do.”

“I know. Josh is a mess.”

 

* * *

“Sparky, I need you to do me a favor.”

Sam’s mind whirled through a dozen different things CJ could want from him, most of which revolved around him moving back to DC to work in the White House. “What?”

“Email me a million pictures of those kids of yours.”

“You just want pictures of my kids? You got it. I got some great ones this morning when Nora wanted to hold Tommy.”

“Can she do that?”

Sam snorted. “Not really, but she wants to try.”

“How’s she doing with him?”

“So far, so good; she seems to love him. She wants to kiss him and love him. She calls him her baby.”

CJ laughed. “Sam, it’s crazy here. There’s so much chaos. I just need a reminder of something good in the world.”

“Well, I’m sure that between Ainsley and myself we man keep you well-stocked in pictures of our kids.”

* * *

For the reminder of CJ’s time in the White House, she always had a current framed photo of the Seaborn children on her desk. About once a month, Ainsley would send her an envelope containing a photo “to update your frame.”


	12. Chapter 12

_January 2007_

_“Here’s my real question,” Matt asked. “From everything that you’ve told me tonight and that I’ve heard from other people, you were in pretty consistent contact with at least Josh, Toby, and CJ while you were in California.”_

_“That’s true,” Sam answered. “We didn’t see them much. CJ is the only one of them to have ever met Tommy before last month.”_

_“Hold on,” Helen said. “How did that happen?”_

_“We always spend Thanksgiving in North Carolina with my family,” Ainsley explained. “Tommy’s first Thanksgiving, CJ asked us to bring him up to DC so she could meet him, and we couldn’t say no.”_

_“That’s sweet.”_

_“It was wonderful. She’s a wonderful aunt to our children. I’m sorry, Matt. What’s your question?”_

_“When was the first time you ever heard Josh mention my name?”_

_Sam smiled._

* * *

 

December 2005

“Will is obviously backing Russell, Toby is trying to pretend that Iowa is three galaxies away rather than three months away, Josh is still looking for someone to stir his soul, and I’m Bartlet’s Chief of Staff. I need to focus on my job.”

“So you can’t give me any insider tips yet?”

CJ laughed. “There’s nothing clear yet. Baker is probably running, but he isn’t close to anyone in here. You know that none of us will support Hoynes.”

“I heard he asked Josh to run his campaign.”

“He did. I’m sure you know how Josh felt about that.”

Sam snorted by way of response.

“Will Bailey is all about Russell, but Toby and Josh seem thoroughly unconvinced.” She paused before asking a question. “Sam, do you ever miss this?”

“CJ, right now, you are in your office too late at night. I’m at home with a sleeping baby on my chest. My wife is making dinner, my daughter is pretending to read a book, and I’m snuggling with my son.”

“It sounds nice.”

“It’s great, CJ. It would take something really special to bring us back to DC.”

“Well, I have to tell you that Josh is looking for something special.”

“Enjoy China,” he said firmly.

 

* * *

“Sam, I’m leaving the White House.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m leaving. For good.”

“What happened?”

Josh laughed. “I found my guy. I lost Donna, but I found my guy.”

“Good, what’s his name?”

“Matt Santos.”

“From Texas?”

“Yeah; hey, Sam? Toby’s mad at me.”

Sam sighed. “I’m not surprised. He was mad at me too when we left. He’ll get over it.”

“How do you know?”

“He got over it when I left.”

“That was different?”

“How?”

Josh sighed. “He says that I jumped ship on the President.”

“He told me that too. But you didn’t, not really.”

“I’m trying to ensure that the President’s legacy continues, that we have people in the White House after Jed Bartlet goes back to New Hampshire who will continue to fight for the things that we fought for in Jed Bartlet’s White House.”

“I know that.”

“How did you explain your reasons for leaving to him?”

“Toby understood that I was disenchanted with a host of things back then. He also knew that I was pretty newly married and that because of the speed at which my relationship with Ains had progressed, I needed to slow down and focus on one thing at a time.”

“Did that work for you?”

“I think so. I think Ains would agree.”

Josh took a deep breath. “Do you or your wife ever talk to Donna?”

“Occasionally,” Sam admitted. “Ainsley and Donna try to talk about once a month. Sometimes they get lucky, and it’s more often.”

“Does she ever mention me?”

Sam laughed. “God, you’re pathetic. Call the girl yourself.”

* * *

“Daddy, how many more days until my birthday?” Nora asked as she climbed onto her father’s lap.

“How many do you think?” he asked as he muted CNN and looked down at his daughter’s blue eyes.

“Thirty thousand,” she replied frankly.

Sam kissed her forehead. “It’s not quite that many.”

“Why is Uncle Josh on TV?”

Sam looked up to see Josh standing behind Matt Santos who was talking to a reporter. “Uncle Josh is doing his job.”

“What is his job?”

Sam thought for a moment before answering. “He helps people who have really big jobs to make sure that they can do their jobs well.”

Nora gave her father a funny look. “Is it like how Doris helps you or how Kathie helps Mommy?”

“It’s similar, but it’s not quite the same. I’ll explain it more another time.”

“Have I ever met Uncle Josh?”

He ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “He knew you when you were a baby, but he hasn’t been able to see us since we moved to California.”

“Will I ever get to see him again?”

“Hopefully, I know that he wants to meet Tommy.”

“Why? He doesn’t do much.”

Sam laughed. “Uncle Josh has never met Tommy. He wants to see your little brother for himself.”

* * *

August 2006

“Sam, we need to talk.”

He looked up at his wife. “No good has ever come from that sentence.”

Ainsley sat down on the bed. “You might not feel that way when we’re done talking.”

He raised his eyebrows and set his book on the bed. “Continue.”

“You know how we said that we weren’t done having kids?”

“Yeah.”

“And we didn’t want as big of an age gap between Tommy and the next baby?”

“We had good reasons for the gap between Nora and Tommy, but we’re in a different place now. We don’t need a three year gap again.”

“That’s a good thing,” she replied.

Sam looked at his wife. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re pregnant?”

She nodded. “I’m due in March.”

“And you just figured it out?”

“I’ve been busy with work and the kids, and I didn’t notice right away.”

“And you’ve been feeling alright?”

Ainsley smiled. “A little nauseous here and there, but I just chalked that up to summer heat or stress for a while.”

“But a baby,” he replied as he rested his hand on her stomach.

She put her hand on top of his. “A baby, are you happy, Sam?”

He grinned. “I’m glad we talked, Ains. I’m very happy.”

* * *

“So Arnie Vinick, huh?” Sam said as he walked into the living room where his wife was watching the Republican convention.

His wife looked at him. “Do you have a problem with him? You were never going to vote for the Republican candidate anyway.”

“Are you going to vote for him?

“A person’s vote is a private decision,” she replied with a smile. It had become something of a joke between them over the years. They were rarely going to see eye to eye on political candidates, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t discuss candidates and issues.

He adjusted his glasses. “You’re going to vote for a pro-choice atheist?”

She shrugged. “So what if I do?”

“Well, I’m pro-choice, but I do believe in God. So I think you’d be better off voting for me than for Vinick.”

Ainsley rolled her eyes. “Samuel, I have voted for a pro-choice candidate before.”

“Please tell me when that was.”

She looked down at the book she wasn’t reading. “Bartlet and Ritchie in 2002.”

“Ritchie is pro-life.”

“I know that.”

Sam stopped and looked at his wife. “Oh man, I can’t…wait…are you serious? Did you really vote for Josiah Bartlet four years ago? You voted for Jed Bartlet? You, Ainsley-“

She leaned back and sighed. “God as my witness, Samuel, we are not going to do this.”

“You never told me! We were married.”

“We were, but a person’s vote is private.”

“I always assumed you voted for Ritchie. I told Donna that you voted for Ritchie.”

“Well, you’re going to hell then because you lied to Donna.”

“Shut up,” he sighed. “You voted for a Democrat.”

“I worked for a Democrat. I married a Democrat. I had two children with a Democrat.”

“And now you’re going to vote for Arnie Vinick.”

She shrugged. “We’ll see. The election is still several months off.”

“I’m just going to remind you that I go to church more than Arnie Vinick does.”

“He went to church when his wife was alive.”

“Your point being?”

Ainsley rolled her eyes. “You know full well what my point is. You only became a regular churchgoer when we got married.”

“But I am neither running for President nor a Republican. I am your husband and a Democrat.”

“This is true.”

Sam leaned close to his wife and smiled. “And I’m just saying that as a nice churchgoing Democrat, I might be able to convince you to vote for Matthew Santos who happens to also be a nice churchgoing Democrat.”

“Sam,” Ainsley sighed.

“I’m just going to remind you that in the only presidential election since your marriage to a nice churchgoing Democrat you did in fact vote for another nice churchgoing Democrat. History could repeat itself.”

“And this is why I never should have told you that I voted for Bartlet four years ago.”

“Well, I can promise you that I will never try to get you to vote for Russell or Hoynes.”

“So if it’s Russell, you might vote for Vinick.”

“Oh good lord, woman…” Sam sighed before kissing his wife.

* * *

 


	13. Chapter 13

_January 2007_

_“Can I ask you a personal question?” Matt leaned forward._

_Sam shrugged. “If I like it, I’ll answer.”_

_“How did you feel about everything that happened last fall?”_

_Ainsley sighed. “Oh lord, there’s a season of our life.”_

_“Last fall was a roller coaster for us,” Sam added. “Everything with Toby made it so hard to be on the other side of the country, and losing Leo…”_

_“It was heartbreaking,” his wife concluded._

_“But I think that is when we decided we were ready to come back to DC.”_

 

* * *

August 2006

“Sam, is there any way that you can get to Washington for two days?”

“What’s up, CJ?”

The White House Chief of Staff sighed. “Have you seen the news?”

“Yeah, Ainsley and I were just watching it. How are you doing?”

“I need a friend. I need someone who cares about me as a person before anything else. I need someone who I can have a glass of wine and just talk with.”

“I’m more of a Scotch man myself.”

“Your wife is always good for a glass of wine and a chat.”

He laughed. “Do you want me to send Ainsley to DC for an evening of girl chat with you?”

“That would be lovely. I’d say that you can come too and have scotch, but I bet that you need someone to stay home with the kids.”

“Speaking of kids, Ainsley won’t be having any wine if she comes to see you.”

“Oh really?” CJ paused for a moment. “Wait, no wine? When’s she due?”

“March,” he replied with a clear note of pride in his voice.

“Congratulations, Sam. That’s great.”

* * *

“Have you talked to Toby?”

Sam sighed. “Have you?”

“I went to visit him. He yelled at me.”

“That sounds about right.”

“So have you talked to him?” Josh repeated.

“I’ve called him a couple of times.”

“Did he yell at you?”

Sam laughed. “The first time he did, but after that we’ve had some good conversations.”

“Did he tell you why he did it?”

That just elicited another laugh. “We don’t talk about that actually.”

“At all?”

“I’ve never asked.”

“What do you talk about then?”

“My job, our children; he gives me book recommendations.”

“You’re a lawyer with a wife and two kids. When do you have time to read?”

“He gives me suggestions. I didn’t say that I read them. I’d like to read them someday when I have time.”

 

* * *

“I don’t like Ray Sullivan,” Ainsley confessed.

Sam looked at his wife. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s too smooth. He looks like a used car salesman.”

“How much experience do you have with used car salesmen?”

“Enough to know that Ray Sullivan looks like one,” she replied.

“Would that keep you from voting for Vinick?”

“My vote is a personal thing.”

* * *

“I kissed Donna.”

“Finally,” Sam replied.

“What?” Josh nearly screamed.

“Can I tell Toby? He owes me money.”

“What?”

“I’m not telling CJ. I owe her money now.”

Josh sighed. “Sam, I need you to tell me what to do.”

“I’m the exact wrong person to ask.”

“You’re my closest married friend.”

“Josh, do you remember how I got married? I slept with Ainsley before we ever went on a date. We got married because she was pregnant.”

“So you’re saying just go with it?”

“That’s what I did. But Josh, be careful. Look at where going with it got me; I’ve got a wife, two kids, and a third on the way.”

 

* * *

“Sam, I need to talk to you.”

The very fact that Josh was calling on Election Day was disconcerting. His friend should have been watching exit polls, not calling old friends. But a note in Josh’s voice told Sam that something terrible had happened. He walked out of the kitchen and into his home office. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s dead.”

“Not Santos?”

“No, Leo; Sam, it’s Leo. Leo’s dead.”

“Leo’s dead?” Sam grabbed at the nearest wall and blinked. “Dead?”

“Dead, Annabeth found him.”

“Josh, I’m so sorry.”

“You’ll tell Ainsley?”

“Of course,” Sam replied firmly. “And let us know about the funeral. I’m in court all week, but if we can be there we will. And even if I can’t come, Ainsley will.”

 

* * *

“Ains,” Sam spoke softly as he walked back into the kitchen. “I need to talk to you.”

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Nora, go play in the living room for a minute,” he added. “I need Mama alone for a minute.”

“Okay,” the four year old replied as she picked up her baby doll and skipped off to the living room.

“Babe, what’s this about? Who called?”

“It was Josh.”

“Josh called on Election Day?” Ainsley asked as she picked Tommy up off the floor where he was playing with measuring cups.

“Ainsley, honey,” Sam began before taking a deep breath. “Ains, something happened.”

“What?”

“It was Leo. Leo died.”

She adjusted their son on her hip. “Say that again. Tell me that I heard you wrong.”

He took a step closer to her. “Honey, I’m sorry, but you heard me right.”

“Oh Sam, no.”

“Josh said that he’ll let us know when the funeral is. I said we’d come if we could, but I have…”

“You’re in court all week. I know. But I’ll go either way. Once we know when it is, I’ll fly out the night before and come back that night. You’ll have to do bedtime and day care alone for one day. But you’re smart. You can handle that.”

Sam kissed his wife’s forehead. “Ainsley, it’ll work out. I promise.”

* * *

Ainsley startled her husband when they woke up the next morning. “Sam, I think it’s time to start talking about going back to DC.”

“You want to be a part of a second Democratic White House?”

“I’m serious here.”

He looked at her. “What inspired this?”

“Leo.”

“The man was all about serving his country.”

“Exactly,” she began. “And we’re always saying that we want to make the world a better place for the kids. But the reality is that no one knows how long they’re going to get. We can’t waste time. We’re here now. We should do what we can with that.”

“You really want to go back to the White House with three little kids.”

“The Santoses have two young children. This might be the perfect situation for us.”

Sam nodded. “Let’s think about it. Poke around a little and see if we can make it work.”

* * *

“Ainsley Hayes approached me about the Counsel’s job.”

“She did?” Josh sat down opposite CJ. “Isn’t she still a Republican?”

“As far as I can tell, but she’s also incredibly intelligent. I think you should get over the Republican thing.”

“But aren’t they pretty settled in California?”

“She asked, Josh.”

He looked at her. “Are you saying that I should go after Sam?”

“If Ainsley is asking about a position in the Santos White House, I’d say that’s a pretty solid indicator that the Seaborns are interested in moving back to DC.”

“I’ll talk to the President-Elect about Sam.”

She picked up a framed photo of Tommy and Nora. “And Ainsley, remember that they’re a package deal now.”

 

* * *

“Hey, Spanky.”

“Hey, CJ, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there today.”

“It’s okay. I talked with your lovely wife. She said you were in court and couldn’t get out of it.”

“Apparently judges don’t let lawyers skip court to run across the country for the funeral of a man they considered to be a second father.”

CJ sighed. “I know you would have given anything to be there today.”

“I’m really sorry that I couldn’t be there.”

“I know. Like I said, I talked to your wife for a little bit.”

“Yeah?”

“She asked about White House Counsel. Are you two seriously thinking about coming back?”

“We’re talking about it. We both like Santos. Our marriage is more stable than it was when we left.”

“And the kids?”

“We think that given that Santos has young children he’ll be able to work with us.”

“I’m glad you’re thinking about it. Josh is going to need you.”

* * *

“Are we crazy?”

Ainsley looked at her husband. “You’re asking me this?”

“Think about it. A week ago we were discussing where to send Nora for kindergarten. Now we’ve both quit our jobs, I’m leaving for DC in the morning, and you’re coming as soon as you can.”

“Well, we’re still going to have to figure out kindergarten for Nora.”

He smiled. “This is just fast. I want to do this. I want to help Santos. I want to make the world a better place. This is just very different from the last time that I did this. This time, we have to make sure that our family remains the highest priority.”

“Well, this time we’re going to be started with that perspective.”

“We’re starting as a family rather than becoming one unexpectedly in the middle of things.”

Ainsley kissed his cheek. “We’ll be fine, Sam. I promise you. Now, does Josh know that you’ve decided yet?”

He laughed. “No, as far as he knows, I’m coming tomorrow to see if I want to do this. It helps that you haven’t been offered a position yet.”

“I’m coming even if they never give me a job in the White House.”

“No bicoastal marriage for you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just imagine that.”

“No thanks,” he replied. “The very idea gives me nightmares.”

* * *

“Sir, this is Sam Seaborn. He’s going to be my Deputy Chief of Staff.”

“Nice to meet you, Sam,” Matt said.

Before Sam could reply, Josh continued. “Sam is married, sir, with two children and a third on the way.”

“Congratulations.”

‘Thank you, sir.”

Josh interrupted. “Sam will be taking my place for the next week. I’m going on vacation for a week-just a week. I need a break. I’m not sure that I’ve ever had a vacation, and I need this. Sam can help you. Lou and Otto and Amy-they’ll all be here. I’ll be back in a week.”

“Good,” the President-Elect replied. “You need it.”

“I’ll see you,” Josh said before leaving.

“So,” Matt said turning back to Sam. “You’re the famous Sam Seaborn.”

“Yes, sir, I am. And I have to say that I’m a big fan of yours.”

The President-Elect smiled as he sat down at his desk. “So Josh said that you’re married with two kids and a third on the way.”

“Yes,” Sam answered as he sat down.

“You’re married to Ainsley Hayes?”

Sam smiled by way of response.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about her for White House Counsel.”

“I’m going to keep my nose out of that one. I’m pretty biased when it comes to my wife.”

“She has previous White House experience.”

“She does.”

“And Oliver Babish speaks quite highly of her.”

Sam nodded. “She and Babish worked well together.”

“And she’ll be moving to DC now.”

“She and the kids are coming over the weekend.”

Matt raised his eyebrows. “She’s going to fly cross-country alone with two children.”

Sam laughed. “No, my mother is coming with her. Nora does alright on a plane, but flying upsets Tommy.”

“How old are they?”

“Tommy is about a year and a half, and Nora is four.”

“And you’re expecting another one?”

“In March.”

“You’re going to be busy.”

Sam nodded. “Ainsley and I think that as long as we go into the White House with the mindset that we have to be committed to our family before our jobs and that we make that clear to you we’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure that you’ll get plenty of support from my wife on that front.”

 

* * *

_January 2007_

_“So my husband promised you my support on maintaining a work-life balance in your family?” Helen asked._

_Sam nodded. “The first time that we met.”_

_“That might have been dangerous, honey.”_

_Matt shrugged. “I’m sure that I can live with it.”_


	14. Chapter 14

December 2006

“How was your day?” Sam asked his wife.

She sighed. “Can you distract your son for a while so that I can make dinner?”

Their son was playing with some trucks by his mother’s feet when Sam scooped him up. “You’ve got it. Anything else I can do for you?”

“Make your younger daughter stop using my internal organs as soccer balls?”

Sam rested a hand on Ainsley’s belly. “Hey you in there, this is your father speaking. Behave yourself.”

The baby just kicked him in answer.

Ainsley shrugged. “Hopefully she’ll be more compliant out of the womb.”

“Ains, she’s your daughter. It’s not looking likely.”

His wife swatted at him. “It’s not like you’re any more compliant than I am.”

“I beg your pardon. I am the soul of duty.”

Ainsley shook her head. “Oh Samuel Norman, what will I do with you?”

He kissed her cheek. “You’d have a totally different life, and you love this life that you have.”

“Marrying a Democrat has not proven to be nearly as terrible as my father told me that it would be.”

Sam laughed as he adjusted Tommy on his hip. “I think that there have been a few benefits.”

“And I’m sure that my dad would be proud that my Democrat husband is letting me be a stay at home mom.”

“For two months,” he replied. “You’re going back to work in a month.”

She smiled. “And then you’ll let me have twelve weeks of maternity leave.”

“And maybe under President Santos it’ll be a real maternity leave.”

Ainsley snorted. “President Bartlet wasn’t the problem with my first maternity leave. That was all Babish.”

“And you won’t have to worry about him in this administration.”

 

* * *

January 2007

“And that brings us up to pretty much now,” Sam said.

“Just so long as we don’t have to deal with Babish in this administration,” Ainsley remarked.

Matt laughed. “I don’t think that’s a likely possibility. He said he wants a good and long break from Washington at this point in his life.”

“He’s earned it,” Ainsley replied. “Lord knows that I know that well.”

Sam squeezed his wife’s hand. “He‘s worked hard and done good work. And yes, he worked my wife too hard.”

“Too hard?” Matt repeated.

“Just when I was supposedly on maternity leave after Nora was born,” Ainsley elaborated.

“Supposedly?” Helen repeated.

“I was under the impression that I was on maternity leave. Babish thought that I was working from home.”

* * *

January 20, 2007

“How are you feeling?” Sam asked as he walked into the bathroom where his wife was carefully applying mascara.

“Pregnant, excited, tired,” she replied. “It’s going to be a good day today.”

He smiled. “It’s going to be a very good day.”

“Are you ready for all of those balls this evening?”

“I’m not the one who is seven months pregnant.”

“Hey, I didn’t agree to go to all of the balls. I’m not married to the President, not yet anyway.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ainsley turned to look at her husband. “If you don’t know, then you’re fooling yourself.”

“Let’s not focus on that today. Let’s focus on Santos today.”

“Even if I didn’t vote for him,” she replied.

“Hey, your guy is the Secretary of State.”

“And your man is good enough of a person to hire Republicans for both Secretary of State and Chief Counsel.”

“He’s a smart man.”

“With good advisors,” Ainsley replied. “But you’re right. It’s going to be a very good day.” 

* * *

For the record, they were home by eleven that night. Pregnancy covers a multitude of social faux pas.

* * *

February 2007

“I feel like I’m not home enough.”

Ainsley sighed. “Samuel, look at the clock.”

“It’s seven-thirty.”

“On a Wednesday night and you’re the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of the United States,” she replied. “And you’re at home.”

“I missed dinner.”

“But you didn’t miss bedtime or bathtime.”

“Which is a relief,” he replied.

“It’s a miracle,” she said. “I can’t do bathtime anymore. I’m too big for getting up and down from the tub.”

“Three more weeks,” he told her softly as he rubbed her belly.

“It can’t come soon enough. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you and a nanny.”

“I feel like Ines is more valuable than I am right now.”

Ainsley put a finger over Sam’s lips. “Ines is great, but she’s no substitute for Daddy when Tommy has a cold and can’t sleep through the night.”

“I’m his dad. Just because I work crazy hours that doesn’t mean that I can’t sit up with him at night while he’s hacking up his lungs.”

“And it makes you a hero in my eyes.”

* * *

“Sam, you went home at seven last night,” Josh said the next morning. “Why are you yawning?”

Sam stifled another yawn. “I didn’t get much sleep.”

“What were you doing? You went home early.”

“Tommy is sick. I stayed up with him half the night.”

Josh shook his head. “Don’t you have a nanny?”

“Josh, when my kids look back on their childhoods, I want them to remember that I was there. I want them to know that their dad loved them and took care of them even if it meant that he missed out on sleep.”

“It just looks bad-you yawning in the Oval during Senior Staff when the President knows that you went home at seven last night.”

“The President’s kids aren’t that much older than mine. I’m sure that he’ll understand.”

Josh huffed. “Well, I don’t understand.”

“Have children, Josh. It’ll all make a lot more sense.”

* * *

March 2007

“Mr. President?” Josh said as he walked into the Oval Office.

“What is it?” President Santos asked as he looked up.

“Sam called.”

“And?”

“Abigail Josephine Seaborn was born at 7:30 this morning.”

“Abigail Josephine?”

“For Abigail Adams, Abigail Barlet, and HMS Pinafore,” Josh replied. “She has dark brown hair, she’s twenty inches long, and she weighs eight pounds, nine ounces.”

Matt smiled. “Make sure my wife knows. She’ll want to know. And please give Sam and Ainsley my congratulations. That’s wonderful news.”

* * *

And what happened after that, the reader may wonder. Well, the transition from working parents of two to working parents of three was hectic for Ainsley and Sam, but they made it work. The transition two years later to parents of four at the birth of Mabel Jean was harder, but they made it work. They continued to serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States. Nora, Tommy, Abby, and Mabel grew to know the White House and its inhabitants well.

Donna and Josh married just before Christmas and just after the midterm election in Santos’s first term. Joanie Lyman was born the following October. Her younger brother Tobias was born two days after Santos was inaugurated for his second term. The name prompted Toby Ziegler to inform Josh that he was decidedly a bad Jew because “if you were a good Jew you’d know that you should not name your children after the living.” Josh had sighed and replied, “Can’t you just accept that this is my way of say that you’re still my brother?”

Mabel was six, Abby eight, Tommy almost ten, and Nora thirteen when Matthew Santos left the White House. Two years later, the Seaborn family was back in Washington when Sam was elected as Senator from California.

Six years after that-in 2023, a wheelchair bound Jed Bartlet grinned broadly as the newly elected President Samuel N. Seaborn took the oath of office alongside his Vice President Charles Young. Josh Lyman grinned gleefully as he saw Peter Santos and Nora Seaborn dancing together at the first of the inaugural balls that night. “See, Sam,” he whispered in the President’s ear. “I told you that they were about the same age.”

“He’s more than three years older than her,” Sam told his Chief of Staff. “It works far better now that she’s in law school and he’s a Naval pilot than it did when she was in preschool and he was in third grade.”

“But aren’t you glad that you listened to me and had dinner with his family?”

Sam looked at his wife as she came to stand next to him. “I’m far happier than Leo knew that President Bartlet liked smart people who disagreed with him and hired Ainsley to work in the White House.”

Ainsley smiled up at her husband. “We owe them everything.”

“And one day, Peter and Nora will say that they owe us everything.”

“Oh get over yourself, Joshua,” his wife said. “You’re the worst yenta I’ve ever met.”

“But you still love me.”

“Amazingly,” she sighed.

“President Seaborn,” Ainsley said. “What do you say about getting away from those two and spinning me around the dance floor?”

“That sounds lovely,” he replied as they joined their daughter and her boyfriend on the dance floor. “Ainsley, did you ever imagine that we’d end up here when we first met?”

“On _Capital Beat_?” she asked. “I never wanted to see you again.”

“I’m so glad that Leo didn’t let that happen.”

“So am I, Samuel. So am I.”

* * *

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. Thanks for reading and commenting and leaving kudos. I'm so glad that you've enjoyed this story.


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